One-dimensional motion

This course is a part of AP®︎ Physics 1, a 12-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Let's explore the ideas of displacement, velocity, and acceleration. We'll do exciting things like throw things off cliffs (far safer on paper than in real life) and see how high a ball will fly in the air.

This course contains 7 segments:

AP Physics 1 foundations

An introduction to Physics, including an overview of the subject, information about prerequisite knowledge, and an interview with one of Khan Academy's content creators.

Distance, displacement, and coordinate systems

We'll review the concepts of distance and displacement and use different ways to visualize motion such as graphs and number lines. So strap your seatbelts (actually this might not be necessary since we don't plan on decelerating in this tutorial) and prepare for a gentle ride of foundational physics knowledge.

Average velocity and average speed

We'll review the concepts of average velocity and average speed and practice calculating both quantities in word problems.

Velocity and speed from graphs

We'll review the concepts of instantaneous velocity and speed and use velocity-time and position-time graphs to analyze motion.

Average and instantaneous acceleration

Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. Whether you're thinking about how fast a Porsche can get to 60 mph or how long it takes for a passenger plane to get to the necessary speed for takeoff, this lesson will help.

Motion with constant acceleration

This lesson builds on what we know about displacement, velocity, and acceleration to solve problems in one-dimensional kinematics where acceleration is constant.

Objects in freefall

Freefall is a special case of motion with constant acceleration because acceleration due to gravity is always constant and downward. This lesson builds on the kinematic formulas to analyze the motion of projectiles and objects in freefall.