Graphing Motion

V-t Graphs
Finding velocity, acceleration, and
distance from graphs
 Graphing Motion
Describe the motion of the object.
Position-Time Graph

6
Position (m)

2
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Time (sec)

The object starts at rest and moves away (+slope) from the
origin at an increasing velocity.
 Graphing Motion
Position-Time Graph

6
5
Position (m)

4
3
2
1
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
Time (sec)

What is the velocity of the object at 0.4 sec?

Draw a line tangent to the slope at that point and find the slope of the
line.

V = 3.4 m/s
 Graphing Motion
What does the velocity-time graph of this motion look like?

V e lo city-T im e G ra ph

12
Velocity (m/s)

9
6
3
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
T im e (s e c)
 Graphing Motion

What is the total displacement of the object?

V e lo city-T im e G ra ph

12
Velocity (m/s)

9
6
3
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
T im e (s e c)

Find the area under the curve. Area = ½ v•t

 Graphing Motion
What is the acceleration of the object?

Velocity-Time Graph

12
Velocity (m/s)

9
6
3
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Tim e (se c)

Find the slope of the line.

 Graphing Motion
What does the acceleration-time graph of this motion look
like?

Acceleration-Time

15
Acceleration
(cm/s/s)

10
5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s)
 Graphing Motion
• Position-time Graphs (d-t)
– Slope (∆ y/∆ x) = ∆ d/∆ t = ___________
velocity
• Velocity-time Graphs (v-t)
– Slope (∆ y/∆ x) = ∆ v/ = ____________acceleration
∆ tv • t = ________________
– Area (b • h or ½ b •h) = displacement
• Acceleration-time Graphs (a-t)
– Area (b • h or ½ b •h) = a • t = ________________
change in velocity