4.6 Displacement-Time Graphs

Question 1

what is on each axis in a displacement-time graph?

Answer 1

x-axis: time
y-axis: displacement

Question 2

what is the gradient of a displacement-time graph?

Answer 2

the velocity

Question 3

what does a displacement-time graph look like if the object is accelerating at a constant rate?

Answer 3

the rate of change of the gradient will be constant, so the line will be straight

Question 4

what does a displacement-time graph look like if the object is accelerating?

Answer 4

the rate of change of the gradient will be increasing

Question 5

what does a displacement-time graph look like if the object is decelerating?

Answer 5

the rate of change of the gradient will be decreasing

Question 6

how do you find velocity from a displacement-time graph?

Answer 6

calculate the gradient
if velocity is constant calculate the change in displacement/time taken
if velocity isn’t constant draw a tangent to find the instantaneous velocity at a certain point

Question 7

how do you find average velocity from a displacement-time graph?

Answer 7

total change in displacement / total time taken, ignoring all variations in acceleration and velocity