Kinematics, branch of physics and a subdivision of classical mechanics concerned with the geometrically possible motion of a body or system of bodies without consideration of the forces involved. Kinematics aims to provide a description of the spatial position of bodies or systems of material particles, the rate at which the particles are moving (velocity), and the rate at which their velocity is changing (acceleration). When the causative forces are disregarded, motion descriptions are possible only for particles having constrained motion—i.e., moving on determinate paths. In unconstrained, or free, motion, the forces determine the shape of the path. For a particle moving on a straight path, a list of positions and corresponding times would constitute a suitable scheme for describing the motion of the particle. A continuous description would require a mathematical formula expressing position in terms of time.

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