What is the characteristics of distance time graph?

Calculate the speed of the object represented by the green line in the graph, from 0 to 3 s.

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Describing the motion in a distance time graph
Importance of Distance-Time Graph
Conclusion:
What is Velocity -Time Graph and Displacement-Time Graph?

Calculate the average speed of the object represented by the green line in the graph, from 0 to 10 s.

Calculate the average speed of the object represented by the purple line in the graph, from 0 to 2 s.

Distance moved = (6 m – 0 m) = 6 m

time taken = (3 s – 0 s) = 3 s

speed = gradient of distance-time graph = distance moved ÷ time taken

speed = 6 m ÷ 3 s = 2 m/s

The total distance travelled by the vehicle on the green line is 7 m.

The time taken to travel this distance is 10 s.

Average speed = total distance moved ÷ time taken = 7 m ÷ 10 s = 0.7 m/s.

The speed of the object represented by the purple line can also be calculated.

distance moved = (10 m – 0 m) = 10 m

time taken = (2 s – 0 s) = 2 s

speed = gradient of distance-time graph = distance moved ÷ time taken

speed = 10 m ÷ 2 s = 5 m/s

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What is the characteristic of distance time graph for the motion of an object moving with the constant speed? SEND

Describing the motion in a distance time graph

When we describe the motion of an object, we must use the language of physics: is the object moving at a constant speed, accelerating or decelerating, or is the object stationary (at rest)?

We've already seen that an upwards straight line means that the object is moving forwards at a constant speed. However, what about an upwards curving line? For each second that ticks by on the horizontal time axis, the distance travelled is greater than the second before. In other words, distance is increasing at an increasing rate. We say that the object is accelerating.

If the line on a distance-time graph curves the other way (when the gradient becomes flatter), then the object will be decelerating, as each second the distance travelled is less than the previous second.

As before, a flat line (gradient equals zero) means that the object is stationary (at rest).

GCSE Physics Keywords: Constant speed, Accelerating, Stationary, Curved, Straight, Gradient, Slope, Forwards, Backwards

Course overview

A distance-time graph shows how far an object has travelled in a given time. It is a simple line graph that denotes distance versus time findings on the graph.

Distance is plotted on the Y-axis.
Time is plotted on the X-axis.

Note: Curved lines on a distance-time graph indicate that the speed is changing.

You may also want to check out these topics given below!

Graphs
Velocity-Time Graph
Linear Graph

Importance of Distance-Time Graph

We deal with the distance-time graph while studying the motion of bodies. If we record distance and time for the motion of a body and plot the same data on a rectangular graph, we will obtain a distance-time graph corresponding to the motion of that body.

Example:

For better understanding, let us consider an example of uniform motion. A bus driver drives at a constant speed which is indicated by the speedometer and the driver measures the time taken by the bus for every kilometre. The driver notices that the bus travels 1 kilometre every 2 minutes.

Data Table

He prepares the data table after this so that he has a clear understanding of everything and then draws the graph as shown below.

By this table, he had a clear idea about the speed which is: ½ × 60 = 30 km/hr.

The graph is a straight line and the motion of the bus is also uniform. Also, from the graph, we can find the speed of the bus at any instant of time. The initial and final position of the car can be found as the following:

Speed = (Final Position-Initial position)/Time

The slope of the line can be found by drawing a rectangle anywhere near the straight line which determines the speed of the bus. If an object is not moving, the distance-time graph results in a horizontal line which shows that the object is at rest.

Conclusion:

The following things can be concluded now:

If the distance-time graph is a straight line then the motion is uniform.
If the distance-time graph of a body is given, its speed can be calculated using the slope of the graph.
The slope of the straight-line graph is the same irrespective of the interval which is chosen. This implies that the speed of an object under uniform motion remains constant.

What is Velocity -Time Graph and Displacement-Time Graph?

A graph is defined as a pictorial representation of information which is a two-dimensional drawing showing the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Independent variables are denoted on the horizontal line known as the x-axis, while the dependent variables are denoted on the vertical line known as the y-axis.

The main components of a 2D graph are x-coordinate and y-coordinate.

Displacement time graph, velocity-time graph, and acceleration time graph are three common types of graphs in classical mechanics.

In the distance-time graph, distance is the dependent variable and is represented on the y-axis, while time is the independent variable and is represented on the x-axis.

The slope of the distance-time graph represents the speed of an object.

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View Quiz Answers and Analysis

A distance-time graph shows how the distance and speed of an object changes with time. This graph shows the movement of three objects over time. The slope, or steepness, of each line indicates the object's rate of speed. In general, the steeper the slope, the faster the object's speed. A straight line indicates constant speed, whereas changes in slope at different time intervals indicate changing speeds.