What is Kinematic: Definition and 405 Discussions

Kinematics is a subfield of physics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the motion of points, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (groups of objects) without considering the forces that cause them to move. Kinematics, as a field of study, is often referred to as the "geometry of motion" and is occasionally seen as a branch of mathematics. A kinematics problem begins by describing the geometry of the system and declaring the initial conditions of any known values of position, velocity and/or acceleration of points within the system. Then, using arguments from geometry, the position, velocity and acceleration of any unknown parts of the system can be determined. The study of how forces act on bodies falls within kinetics, not kinematics. For further details, see analytical dynamics.
Kinematics is used in astrophysics to describe the motion of celestial bodies and collections of such bodies. In mechanical engineering, robotics, and biomechanics kinematics is used to describe the motion of systems composed of joined parts (multi-link systems) such as an engine, a robotic arm or the human skeleton.
Geometric transformations, also called rigid transformations, are used to describe the movement of components in a mechanical system, simplifying the derivation of the equations of motion. They are also central to dynamic analysis.
Kinematic analysis is the process of measuring the kinematic quantities used to describe motion. In engineering, for instance, kinematic analysis may be used to find the range of movement for a given mechanism and working in reverse, using kinematic synthesis to design a mechanism for a desired range of motion. In addition, kinematics applies algebraic geometry to the study of the mechanical advantage of a mechanical system or mechanism.

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    Solving Kinematic Q: Plane Releasing Package, Angle of Velocity Vector

    I've been trying this question, but I doubt the first answer... An airplane with speed 97.5m/s is climbing upward at an angle of 50.0degrees with respect to the horizontal. When the plane's altitude is 732m, the pilot releases a package. (a) Calculate the distance along the ground, measured...
  2. 0

    Difficult Kinematic Range Problem

    Kinematic Range Problem Help! This problem is kicking my butt... A ball is to be shot from level ground with a certain speed. The figure attached shows the range R it will have versus the launch angle 'theta'at which it can be launched. (The vertical axis is marked in increments of 20.0 m.)...
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    Solve a Simple Kinematic Question: Space Shuttle Landing Acceleration

    I have a pretty simple high school physics question and hope anyone here can answer it. Question - A space shuttle is coming in for a landing and is approaching the runway with a speed of 450km/h and at an range of 40 degrees below the horizontal. It smoothly changes direction so that when it...
  4. X

    Solving Kinematic Problems: Police Car Skid Marks

    Kinematic problems! hi there,here is my problem The police observe that the skid marks of a stopping car are 200m long. Assuming the car decelerated at a constant rate of 20m/s^2,skidding all the way, how fast was the car going when the brakes were applied? i think we can solve the...
  5. A

    Elevator Kinematics: Calculating Acceleration with Pulley and Man

    Hi, here is the question: there is a elevator, an man is in it, via a pulley he can raise the elevator. zzzzz/o\ zzzzz|zz\ zzzzz|zz| ---zz|------ |zzzz|zzzzz| |zzzz|zzzzz| |zzz\o/zzzz| |zzzz|zzzzz| |zzz/z\zzzz| ------------ This is my picture so can't do better z are empty...
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