What is the difference between Uniform and Nonuniform Motion?

The uniform motion refers to a form of linear movement whereby an object travels at a constant speed in a straight line. In other words, uniform motion can be defined as the motion of an object on a straight line with constant velocity. When an object covers the same distance at different time intervals, the motion of such an object is said to be a uniform one. This means that the distance covered by an object at a particular time interval is the same as the distance covered by the same object at another time interval.

Non-uniform motion, on the other hand, occurs when an object covers different distances at the same time intervals. For uniform motion, the acceleration is zero since the velocity is constant at equal intervals. In contrast, velocity is not constant in a non-uniform motion; as such, the acceleration is not equal to zero. The graph of a non-uniform motion is curved, but a uniform motion gives a straight line.

Movement is a shift in the position of an object as it relates to other objects. The trajectory (path) is the line that the body defines while moving. The most understandable form of mechanical motion is the uniform linear movement. It is a uniform movement of a material point in a straight line and at a consistent speed. The essential aspect of uniform linear motion is that the displacement is equivalent to the passed trajectory. When the body passes equal distances at equal time intervals, we say that it is moving at a steady speed.

By introducing the mean speed, nonuniform movements are identified with uniform linear motions. Accelerated motion is a part of kinetics in which alters in velocity while motion is studied. The trajectory is equal to the mean speed for a very short time interval. For example, when someone is standing still, there is no acceleration. The mean speed is the ratio of the total displacement of the body and the size of that time interval.