GENERAL PHYSICS 1

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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET 11

Velocity vs Time and Acceleration vs Time Graph

Basic Information to the Learner (BIL)

Objects are in motion everywhere we look. Everything from a tennis

game to a space-probe flyby of the planet Neptune involves motion. When you
are resting, your heart moves blood through your veins. And even in nonliving
objects, there is a continuous motion in the vibrations of atoms and molecules.
Questions about motion are interesting in and of themselves: How long
will it take for a space probe to get to Mars? Where will a football land if it is
thrown at a certain angle? But an understanding of motion is also key to
understand other concepts in physics. An understanding of acceleration, for
example, is crucial to the study of force.

We can recall that:

Position In order to describe the motion of an object, you must first be able to
describe its position—where it is at any particular time. More precisely, you
need to specify its position relative to a convenient reference frame. Earth is
often used as a reference frame, and we often describe the position of an object
as it relates to stationary objects in that reference frame.

Displacement If an object moves relative to a reference frame (for example, if a

professor moves to the right relative to a white board or a passenger moves
toward the rear of an airplane), then the object’s position changes. This change
in position is known as displacement. The word “displacement” implies that an
object has moved, or has been displaced.
Distance Although displacement is described in terms of direction, distance is
not. Distance is defined to be the magnitude or size of displacement between
two positions. Note that the distance between two positions is not the same as
the distance traveled between them. Distance traveled is the total length of the
path traveled between two positions. Distance has no direction and, thus, no
sign.

Vector Displacement is an example of a vector quantity. A vector is any quantity

with both magnitude and direction.

Scalar A scalar is any quantity that has a magnitude, but no direction. Distance
is an example of a scalar quantity.

Time As discussed in Physical Quantities and Units, the most fundamental

physical quantities are defined by how they are measured. This is the case with
time. Every measurement of time involves measuring a change in some
physical quantity. In physics, the definition of time is simple— time is change,
or the interval over which change occurs. It is impossible to know that time has
passed unless something changes.

Speed In everyday language, most people use the terms “speed” and “velocity”
interchangeably. In physics, however, they do not have the same meaning and
they are distinct concepts. One major difference is that speed has no direction.
Thus speed is a scalar.

Instantaneous Speed It is the magnitude of instantaneous velocity.

Velocity The velocity of an object is the rate of change of its position with respect
to a frame of reference, and is a function of time. It is equivalent to a
specification of an object's speed and direction of motion.

Coordinate Systems for One-Dimensional Motion

In order to describe the direction of a vector quantity, you must designate
a coordinate system within the reference frame. For one-dimensional motion,
this is a simple coordinate system consisting of a one-dimensional coordinate
line. In general, when describing horizontal motion, motion to the right is usually
considered positive, and motion to the left is considered negative. With vertical
motion, motion up is usually positive and motion down is negative.

Graph 1
Example Problem 1.0 You drive to a store and return home in
half an hour, and your car’s odometer shows the total distance traveled was 6
km, then your average speed was 12 km/h. Your average velocity, however,
was zero, because your displacement for the round trip is zero. (Displacement
is change in position and, thus, it is zero for a round trip.) Thus, average speed
is not simply the magnitude of average velocity.

Figure 1
During a 30-minute round trip to the store, t he total distance traveled is 6 km.

The average speed is 12 km/h. The displacement for the round trip is zero,
since there was no net change in position. Thus the average velocity is zero.
Another way of visualizing the motion of an object is to use a graph. A plot of
position or of velocity as a function of time can be very useful. For example, for
this trip to the store, the position, velocity, and speed-vs.-time graphs are
displayed in the Figure 1. (Note that these graphs depict a very simplified model
of the trip. We are assuming that speed is constant during the trip, which is
unrealistic given that we’ll probably stop at the store. But for simplicity’s sake,
we will model it with no stops or changes in speed. We are also assuming that
the route between the store and the house is a perfectly straight line.)

Graph 2

The graph shows you traveled 6.0 km for 15.0 minutes and back to initial
position for 30 minutes.

Graph 3 w ithin 30.0 minutes travel. The

The graph shows that your velocity changed
negative velocity is the changed in direction.
 Graph 4

The graph shows that your speed is constant within 30.0 minutes travel.

Example Problem 2.0 Calculating Position and Velocity of a Falling Object: A

Rock Thrown Upward A person standing on the edge of a high cliff throws a
rock straight up with an initial velocity of 13.0 m/s. The rock misses the edge of
the cliff as it falls back to earth. Calculate the position and velocity of the rock
1.00 s, 2.00 s, and 3.00 s after it is thrown, neglecting the effects of air
resistance.

Solutions for the remaining time is given.

Table 1
Time (t) Position (y) Velocity (v) Acceleration (a)
1.00s 8.10 m 3.20 m/s -9.80 m/s2
2.00s 6.40 m -6.60 m/s -9.80 m/s2
3.00s -5.10 m -16.4 m/s -9.80 m/s2
We can plot the graphs as follows.

Table 2
Time (t) Position (y)

1.00s 8.10 m

2.00s 6.40 m

3.00s -5.10 m

Graph 5

Table 3
Time (t) Velocity (v)

1.00s 3.20 m/s

2.00s -6.60 m/s

3.00s -16.4 m/s

Graph 6

Table 4
Time (t) Acceleration(a)

1.00s -9.80 m/s2

2.00s -9.80 m/s2

3.00s -9.80 m/s2

Graph 7
 At 1.00 s the rock is above its starting point and heading upward, since
y1 and v1 are both positive. At 2.00 s, the rock is still above its starting point,
but the negative velocity means it is moving downward. At 3.00 s, both y 3 and
v3 are negative, meaning the rock is below its starting point and continuing to
move downward. When the rock is at its highest point (at 1.5 s), its velocity is
zero, but its acceleration is still -9.8 m/s2.
The values for y are the positions (or displacements) of the rock, not the total
distances traveled. Free-fall applies to upward motion as well as downward.
Both have the same acceleration – the acceleration due to gravity, which
remains constant the entire time.

Learning Competency:
Construct velocity vs. time and acceleration vs. time graphs, respectively,
corresponding to a given position vs. time-graph and velocity vs. time graph
and vice versa (STEM_GP12KIN-Ib-16)
Activity 1 – PLOT ME GOOD
Directions: Given number 1 is done for you. Construct a graph of what is
asked
1. A car traveled for 50 seconds. We start our clock, and once every 10 s
we note the car’s position. As you can see from Figure 2, the car moves
to the right during the first 10 s of motion, from position A to position B.
After B, the position values begin to decrease, suggesting the car is
backing up from position B through position F. In fact, at D, t=30.0 s after
we start measuring, the car is at the origin of coordinates. It moves
continuously to the left and is more than 50 m to the left of x=0 when we
stop recording information after our sixth data point. Construct a position
vs time graph.

Table 5
Positi on T (s) X (m)
A 0 30
B 10 52
C 20 38
D 30 0
E 40 -37
F 50 -53
Figure 2

2. A train is moving at a constant speed and suddenly slows to a stop from

a speed of 30.0 km/h in 8.00 s. What is its average acceleration while
stopping? Construct a velocity vs time and acceleration vs time graph.
 3. A velocity–time graph for an object moving along the x axis is shown in
figure below. Calculate the average acceleration between various points
, O and A, A and B, B and C.

Figure 3

4. Below is a velocity (m/s) vs. time (s) graph for an object moving
horizontally in one dimension. For each time interval, explain what is
happening to the object’s (a) Velocity, (b) Speed, (c) Acceleration, and
(d) Displacement.

Figure 4

Table 6
Interval Velocity Speed Acceleration Displacement
0-A
A-B
B-C
C-D
D-E
E-F
F-G
 5. Use the graph to find the average velocity from: (a) 0 s to 2 s (b) 2 s to
4 s.

Figure 5

Reflection:

1. I learned that

2. I enjoyed most on

3. I want to learn more

 References:
Curriculum Guide in General Physics
Giancoli, Douglas C. , Physics for Scientists and
Engineers with Modern Physics, Third Edition
Walker. (2009) Physics 111.01.Lecture 4 . Motion Examples
with Acceleration Motion
Serwey. Jewett. , Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern
Physics,
Ninth Edition
Johansson. (2016) Kinematics

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