Kinematics is best defined as the study of what?

Kinematics is best defined as the study of motion without consideration of its causes. This branch of mechanics focuses on the description of motion in terms of displacement, velocity, and acceleration, rather than analyzing the forces or reasons behind that motion.

In kinematics, one would examine how objects move (the trajectory, speed, and mode of movement) while setting aside the effects of forces, such as gravity or friction, that actually produce or influence that motion. This distinction is crucial as it allows for a clear analysis of the movement characteristics of different objects without the additional complexity introduced by analyzing forces.

While speed and acceleration are important concepts in kinematics, they are subsets of the broader category of motion and do not encompass the complete definition of kinematics itself. Similarly, concepts related to forces or mechanics of living tissues fall outside the scope of kinematics, as they require consideration of the underlying causes of motion. Therefore, the definition focusing solely on motion makes it clear that kinematics specifically deals with how objects travel through space and time.