Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers

Equations of Motion

Now that we've defined all the variables you'll be working with, you can move on to studying the equations that model one-dimensional motion. It is very important to note that these equations hold only when the acceleration is constant. Remember that the velocity section started by discussing constant velocity. It said that if the velocity does not change, the average velocity is the same as the instantaneous velocity at any time. The same applies to acceleration. Fortunately, most objects in nature move with a constant acceleration, like an object in free fall. If you have a scenario in which the acceleration changes, just break it into smaller time intervals of constant acceleration. This works perfectly in programming, ...