<h2 data-l10n-args='{"chapter":"3","title":"Introduction to Two-Dimensional Kinematics"}' data-l10n-id="textbook-view-header-no-publishing-chapter">Introduction to Two-Dimensional Kinematics</h2>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_97578" style="width: 800px"><a href="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/7b56b8bb-76c8-469b-b41c-9b2e2cb1c2fb"><img alt="rollercoaster ride" class="size-full wp-image-97578" height="600" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/7b56b8bb-76c8-469b-b41c-9b2e2cb1c2fb" width="800"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Everyday motion that we experience is, thankfully, rarely as tortuous as a rollercoaster ride like this—the Dragon Khan in Spain’s Universal Port Aventura Amusement Park. However, most motion is in curved, rather than straight-line, paths. Motion along a curved path is two- or three-dimensional motion, and can be described in a similar fashion to one-dimensional motion. Image credit: Boris23/Wikimedia Commons</p></div>
<p id="import-auto-id1165298810746">The arc of a basketball, the orbit of a satellite, a bicycle rounding a curve, a swimmer diving into a pool, blood gushing out of a wound, and a puppy chasing its tail are but a few examples of motions along curved paths. In fact, most motions in nature follow curved paths rather than straight lines.</p>
<p>Motion along a curved path on a flat surface or a plane (such as that of a ball on a pool table or a skater on an ice rink) is two-dimensional, and thus described by two-dimensional kinematics. Motion not confined to a plane, such as a car following a winding mountain road, is described by three-dimensional kinematics.</p>
<p>Both two- and three-dimensional kinematics are simple extensions of the one-dimensional kinematics developed for straight-line motion in the <a href="https://app.ulearngo.com/tutorial/physics-201/">previous tutorial</a>. This simple extension will allow us to apply physics to many more situations, and it will also yield unexpected insights about nature.</p>

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Introduction to Two-Dimensional Kinematics

Physics is a science discipline concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. Physics topics include mechanics, heat, light and radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, the structure of atoms, and so on.

Physics

Explore the principles of two-dimensional kinematics, including mastering vector addition and subtraction, resolving a vector into components, and analyzing projectile motion and relative velocities.


Introduction to Two-Dimensional Kinematics

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