Fundamentals of Physics Chapter 2 Solutions: Motion Along a Straight Line

Halliday Resnick & Walker Fundamentals of Physics Volume 1 Solutions for Chapter 2 ‘Motion Along a Straight Line’ discuss the motion of objects. This chapter of Resnick Halliday Solutions can help you in JEE physics preparation. You will calculate how fast an object moves and how much time it takes to move from one point to another. In the chapter, you will understand different topics like displacement, acceleration, velocity, free-fall acceleration, speed, uniform and non-uniform acceleration. 

Resnick Halliday and Walker Physics Volume 1 Chapter 2 Solutions contain 1 exercise which is divided into 7 modules containing a total of 119 questions. The chapter contains questions based on finding out the distance travelled by an object in a particular time frame, the acceleration experienced by the rider or an object in motion, and the instantaneous velocity, or speed. After practising the questions in Resnick Halliday Physics Volume 1, you will be able to solve questions of competitive exams like JEE and NEET. 

Instasolv team has provided you with the module-wise solutions for Halliday Resnick and Walker Volume 1 Chapter 2 ‘Motion Along a Straight Line’. Our subject matter experts have years of professional experience in the field of physics and work in a collaborative manner to provide step by step solutions to all the questions. Access these solutions at any time for free. 

Important Topics for Halliday Resnick & Walker Fundamentals of Physics Volume 1 Solutions Chapter 2: Motion Along a Straight Line


In the chapter ‘Motion Along a Straight Line’ of Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday Resnick and Walker, you will solve questions related to the different properties of motion. You must know that the motion refers to the change in position of an object with respect to time. Motion is always carried along a straight line only which can be slanted, horizontal, or vertical. 


  • Position refers to locating an object with respect to its reference point or the origin (zero points) on an axis such as x. 
  • The direction of increasing numbers or the coordinates to the right is known as positive direction whereas the opposite of it refers to a negative direction. 
  • For example, an object lies at 5m to the right of the origin, i.e. x = 5m, this means that x is 5m to the positive direction from the origin. Similarly, if x = -5m, it will be referred to as the negative direction from the origin. 5 is the magnitude and sign refers to plus and minus in a quantity. 


  • The chapter will tell you in detail about displacement which is the change in position from x1 to x2.     
  • Displacement is calculated as Δx= x2 x1  
  • Displacement is always negative if the particle x moves in a negative direction and vice versa. 
  • Displacement is a vector quantity as it contains both sign and magnitude. You will study the significance of both in the chapter. 

Average Velocity and Speed

  • When there is a movement of the particle from x1 to x2 during a time frame, t=t2 – t1, the average velocity is:      

  • Average velocity never depends on the actual distance that a particle moves, for example, 68m, instead it refers to the distance between the initial and the ending point. 

Average Speed

The average speed is the calculation of the total distance that an object travels with respect to time. 

Instantaneous Velocity 

Instantaneous velocity refers to the velocity of an object with respect to a specific time interval. The velocity at a particular instant is always acquired by shrinking the time interval closer to zero. In the chapter, you will know about how the instantaneous velocity is calculated. 


  • Whenever there is a change in the velocity of a particle over a time interval t, it is referred to as acceleration. In the chapter, you will know how you can calculate the average acceleration. 
  • Also, the chapter tells you how to calculate the instantaneous acceleration, in which the velocity changes at a particular instant. 
  • The chapter gives several examples of acceleration which are effective on the public as because of acceleration only, you feel to be stretched upwards when a car is braked to a stop. 

Constant Acceleration 

When the velocity of an object keeps on increasing constantly which means that the increase in velocity per second is the same. In the chapter, you will study the five equations that describe the motion of an object or particle. 

Free-Fall Acceleration 

Whenever a body freely falls in a vacuum near the surface of the earth, the acceleration at that time is referred to as free-fall acceleration. The standard value of free-fall acceleration is 9.806 meters per second. 

Exercise Discussion of Halliday Resnick & Walker Fundamentals of Physics Volume 1 Solutions Chapter 2: Motion Along a Straight Line

Module 1: Position, Displacement, and Average Velocity 

The first module of Resnick Halliday consists of 13 questions that check your analytical skills on different topics like finding the average velocity, speed, displacement given the time, and distance. 

Module 2:  Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

This module has around 4 questions that are based upon finding the distance from the origin, identifying if the speed increases or decreases, and finding the time taken by an object to complete the distance. 

Module 3: Acceleration

Module 3 contains only 5 questions but all are important to clear your basic knowledge for JEE Mains Physics. You will solve questions related to the position, time, acceleration, or the average velocity. 

Module 4: Constant Acceleration

This module comprises 21 questions in which you need to find out how far an object goes, what is the velocity at a particular given time and acceleration. Also, in several questions, you will be asked to graphically show the situation given in the question. 

Module 5: Free Fall Acceleration

There are around 21 questions in this module of Resnick Halliday. You will be asked to find the time, average acceleration, the height of the fall of an object, the height of a tower from where an object drops, etc. 

Module 6: Graphical Integration in Motion Analysis

In this module, there are around 6 questions in which you need to find the speed, time, and other things analyzing a particular graph. 

Module 7: Additional Problems 

There are 48 questions in which the questions are based on finding a rider’s acceleration, or the distance travelled by a vehicle, and much more. 

Why use Halliday Resnick & Walker Fundamentals of Physics Volume 1 Solutions Chapter 2: Motion Along a Straight Line by Instasolv?

  • The questions in Chapter 2 ‘Motion Along a Straight Line’  Fundamentals of Physics by Resnick Halliday and Walker are solved with detailed answers by the proficient team of Instasolv. 
  • You will be able to understand each answer easily as the team aims at clearing all your doubts skillfully through stepwise solutions. 
  • Resnick Halliday & Walker Physics Solutions provided by Instasolv are optimized with the tips and tricks for JEE Mains and JEE Advanced.