"Engineers designing a vehicle, whether a bicycle or a spacecraft, must be able to analyze and predict its motion. To design an engine, they must analyze the motions of each of its moving parts. Even when designing "static" structures such as buildings, bridges, and dams, they often must analyze motions resulting from wind loads and potential earthquakes. In this chapter we begin the study of motion. We are not concerned here with the properties of objects or the causes of their motions- we merely want to describe and analyze the motion of a point in space. However, keep in mind that the point can represent some point (such as the center of mass) of a moving object. After defining the position, velocity, and acceleration of a point, we consider the simplest example: motion along a straight line. We then show how motion of a point along an arbitrary path, or trajectory, is expressed and analyzed in various coordinate systems." p15

ACCELERATION
RATE OF CHANGE OF VELOCITY OF AN OBJECT

CURVILINEAR PATH
A CURVED TRAJECTORY OF THE MOTION OF AN OBJECT.

DISPLACEMENT
A DISTANCE AND A DIRECTION OF MOTIONDESCRIBING A CHANGE IN POSITION FROM A STARTING POINT TO A FINAL LOCATION.

LINEAR
PROPERTY OF SYSTEMS WHERE THE SYSTEM OUTPUT OR RESPONSE IS IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE INPUT. DOUBLING THE INPUT (LOAD, FORCE, ENERGY, TENSION,...) HAS THE EFFECT OF DOUBLING THE OUTPUT (STRETCH, COMPRESSION, DISPLACEMENT,...)

POSITION
A POINT IN SPACE. COORDINATES ARE THE NUMBERS USED TO SPECIFY THE POSITION OF THE POINT IN SPACE.

TANGENT

VELOCITY