HOW TO IMPROVE THE ABILITY TO INTERPRET EQUATIONS AND GRAPHS REPRESENTING MECHANICAL MOTION IN KINEMATICS

Abstract

Graphs used in kinematics describe the behavior of quantities involved in the motion of an object, such as its position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time. In Physics, the interpretation of kinematic motions encountered in everyday life relies on reference frames whose importance is well recognized by most students and teachers. However, the orientation component of the reference frame is usually applied in a limited manner. This restricts the analysis of graphs and equations that describe the motion of bodies in kinematics. Among the main consequences of this limitation is the tendency of students to associate positive acceleration and increasing graphs exclusively with uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion, whereas negative acceleration and decreasing graphs are associated only with uniformly decelerated rectilinear motion. In response to this problem, motion variants derived from the orientation component of the reference frame were established, making it possible to identify contributions such as determining the limiting criterion of the equations of uniformly varied rectilinear motion and relating the behavior of the magnitude of velocity to the signs of velocity and acceleration.