Question:medium

Which of the following is an equation of linear motion?

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These equations are only valid when acceleration ($a$) is constant. If acceleration changes over time, you must use calculus (integration/differentiation) to find the motion parameters.
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • v = u + at
  • s = ut + 1/2 at²
  • v² = u² + 2as
  • all of these
Show Solution

The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

A quick way to sanity-check a set of motion equations without re-deriving them is to test whether every term in each equation has matching physical dimensions, since a dimensionally inconsistent equation could never be physically valid.

Step 1: For \( v = u + at \): \( v \) and \( u \) are velocities with dimension \( [LT^{-1}] \). The term \( at \) has dimension \( [LT^{-2}][T] = [LT^{-1}] \). All terms match, so the equation is dimensionally sound.

Step 2: For \( s = ut + \frac{1}{2}at^2 \): \( s \) has dimension \( [L] \). The term \( ut \) gives \( [LT^{-1}][T] = [L] \), and \( at^2 \) gives \( [LT^{-2}][T^2] = [L] \). Every term matches \( [L] \), so this equation is also dimensionally sound.

Step 3: For \( v^2 = u^2 + 2as \): both sides have dimension \( [L^2T^{-2}] \), since \( as \) gives \( [LT^{-2}][L] = [L^2T^{-2}] \). This equation checks out as well.

Since all three equations pass the dimensional consistency test, none of them can be rejected as invalid, so the correct choice must include all of them: \[ \boxed{\text{all of these}} \]
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