1. GRAPHING MOTION
Distance vs. Time

2. GRAPHING MOTION
Describing a journey made by an object is very boring if you just use words. As with much of science, graphs are more revealing.
Plotting distance against time can tell you a lot about a journey.

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Let's look at the axes:

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Time always runs horizontally (the x-axis). The arrow shows the direction of time. The further to the right, the longer time from the start.

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Distance runs vertically (the y-axis). The higher up the graph we go, the further we are from the start.

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If something is not moving, a horizontal line is drawn on a distance-time graph.
Time is increasing to the right, but its distance does not change.
This graph shows an object that is stationary.

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If something is moving at a steady speed, it means we expect the same increase in distance in a given time.(Constant speed)
Time is increasing to the right, and distance is increasing steadily with time.

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This graph shows an object that moves at a steady, constant speed.

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Both the lines below show that each object moved the same distance, but the steeper yellow line got there before the other one.
What does this indicate?

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A steeper slope indicates a larger distance moved in a given time. In other words, higher speed.
This is shown in yellow.

11. GRAPHING MOTION Yellow: speed = distance / time = 30 m / 10 s = 3 m/s
Blue: speed = distance / time = 20 m / 20 s = 1 m/s

12. GRAPHING MOTION
For the first part of the journey shown by the graph below, the object moved at a steady (slow) speed.

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Then the object suddenly increased its speed, covering a much larger distance in the same time.
The speed increased in the second part of the journey.

14. GRAPHING MOTION Stopped? Moving at a quick constant speed?
There are three parts to the journey shown here… Where is the graph showing motion that is:
Stopped?
Moving at a quick constant speed?
Traveling at a slow constant speed? C B A

15. GRAPHING MOTION Stage 1: 100 m in 10 s. Stage 2: 50 m in 10 s.
The graph below shows several stages of motion:
Stage 1: 100 m in 10 s.
Stage 2: 50 m in 10 s.
Stage 3: 150 m in 20 s.
Calculate the speeds of each stage, indicated by the colors.

16. GRAPHING MOTION The graph below shows several stages of motion:
Stage 1: speed = distance / time = 100 m / 10 s = 10 m/s
Stage 2: speed = distance / time = 50 m / 10 s = 5 m/s
Stage 3: speed = distance / time = 150 m / 20 s = 7.5 m/s.

17. GRAPHING MOTION The graph below shows several stages of motion:
Stage 1: constant speed at a relatively high rate
Stage 2: constant speed at a relatively slow rate
Stage 3: constant speed at a “medium” rate (between the others)

18. GRAPHING MOTION
Distance vs. time graphs also indicate the position of the object.
Stage 1 & Stage 2: object is moving away from the starting point
Stage 3: object is moving back toward the starting point (it comes back to zero)

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The steeper the line on a distance vs. time graph, the faster the object’s speed.
A Horizontal line means –no movement(stopped)

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Lines pointing up indicate moving away from the starting location.
Lines pointing down indicate moving back towards the starting location.

21. Instantaneous speed = points on the graph

22. 40 30 20 10
Distance
(metres)
Time/s
What is the speed during the first 20 seconds?
How far is the object from the start after 60 seconds?
What is the speed during the last 40 seconds?
When was the object travelling the fastest?
What happened between 20 and 40 seconds?
.5m/s
40m
1m/s
40-60 seconds
Object stopped

23. GRAPHING MOTION To learn about speed vs. time graphs, visit this link: