We are given its velocity as a function of time:
v=v0+gt+Ft2
.
The first thing to notice here is that the velocity is not constant, nor is it changing linearly. Because there is a
t2
term, the acceleration itself is changing with time. This is a critical observation because it means we
cannot use the standard equations of motion like
s=ut+21at2
. Those equations are strictly reserved for constant acceleration scenarios.
We are also given an initial condition: at
t=0
, the particle is at the origin, so
x=0
. Our goal is to find the position
x
at
t=1
second.
How do we connect velocity to position? We know that velocity is the instantaneous rate of change of displacement. Mathematically, this is written as:
v=dtdx
To find the displacement
x
, we need to isolate
dx
and integrate. Rearranging the equation gives us:
dx=vdt
Now, we set up a definite integral. We integrate the left side from the initial position
0
to the final position
x
, and the right side from the initial time
0
to the final time
1
:
∫0xdx=∫01(v0+gt+Ft2)dt
Now, we simply execute the integration term by term using the power rule
∫tndt=n+1tn+1
.
The integral of the constant
v0
is
v0t
. The integral of
gt
is
2gt2
. And the integral of
Ft2
is
3Ft3
. This gives us:
x=[v0t+2gt2+3Ft3]01
Finally, we substitute the upper limit
t=1
. The lower limit is
0
, which will just make the whole expression zero, so we can safely ignore it. Plugging in
1
, we get:
x=v0(1)+2g(1)2+3F(1)3
This elegant expression is our final displacement. Always remember the hierarchy: differentiate to go from position to velocity to acceleration, and integrate to go in the reverse direction!