Travel Graphs
Velocity
The rate of change of displacement - distance in a certain direction - is called the velocity.
Velocity = displacement /time
The gradient of a distance time graph is speed.
Units: ms-1
Acceleration / Deceleration
The rate of change of velocity - speed in a certain direction - is called the acceleration or deceleration.
Acceleration = velocity / time
The
gradient of a velocity time graph is
acceleration or deceleration.
Units: ms-2
The following animations show distance / time graphs and their corresponding velocity / time graphs and acceleration / time graphs.
Practice is the key to mastering maths; please visit this page, for more worksheets.
Now practise the following to complement what you have learnt so far.
Draw distance-time graphs and corresponding velocity-time graph and acceleration-time graphs for the following:
1) A ball dropped from the top of a tower
2) A ball dropped from the top of a tower on to a perfectly elastic floor to be bounced back once
3) A ball thrown upwards and then catch it again after a while
4) The motion of an aircraft on landing after a long journey
5) The motion of a parachutist when coming down
6) The motion of a feather in the air