Our research base is a modern 46m x 17m laboratory located at the RVC’s Hawkshead Campus in the Hertfordshire countryside we also conduct much field research on free ranging animals in their natural environment. Professor Alan Wilson poses with cheetahs and the Structure and Motion Lab research aircraft while filming a segment for Big Cats with the BBC. You can find out more about our research on the projects page. We also research the evolution of locomotion in a range of species. We study a diverse range of species: domesticated animals such as cats and dogs, invertebrates, and large mammals including elephants and cheetahs. We use this knowledge to gain a more complete understanding of how and why animals move as they do. Our research covers the scale range from individual muscle fibre contractions to group dynamics in herds of animals. We investigate how animals move and how they interact with their physical environment, including how movement is controlled and the limits to performance. These are all a part of mechanics.The Structure and Motion Laboratory contains state-of-the-art facilities and multidisciplinary expertise, the laboratory has an international reputation for excellence in this field. In order to really understand motion, you have to think about forces, acceleration, energy, work, and mass. For such complex motions to occur, forces must also be acting, but at angles to the movement. These would involve curved movements such as circular motion, or the motion of a ball being thrown through the air. There are also more complex movements when an object's direction is changing. Slightly more complicated studies would look at objects that speed up or slow down, where forces have to be acting. The simplest movement would be objects moving at constant velocity. The first idea is that there are simple movements, such as if you're moving in a straight line, or if two objects are moving towards each other in a straight line. There are two main ideas when you study mechanics. A car has a greater mass than a baseball. Mass is the amount of something there is, and is measured in grams (or kilograms). Velocities could either increase or decrease over time. Acceleration is a measure of how much the velocity of an object changes in a certain time (usually in one second). ![]() (Note: Even though the terms 'speed' and 'velocity' are often used at the same time, they actually have different meanings.)Īcceleration is a twist on the idea of velocity. How fast an object moves, its speed or Velocity, can be influenced by forces. So how is all of this motion measured? Physicists use some basic terms when they look at motion. Changes in motion won't just happen on their own. Forces need to act upon an object to get it moving, or to change its motion. ![]() ![]() The physics of motion is all about forces. There are also special laws when you reach the speed of light or when physicists look at very small things like atoms. Over the years, scientists have discovered several rules or laws that explain motion and the causes of changes in motion. Motion is one part of what physicists call mechanics. Don't forget that even if you appear to be standing still, the Earth is moving around the Sun, and the Sun is moving around our galaxy. ![]() It might only be a small amount of movement and very very slow, but movement does happen. Motion is one of the key topics in physics.
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