Reading speed from a graph

Science · Forces & Motion · ages 14-15

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What does the slope of a velocity-time graph tell you?
- The distance travelled
- The mass of the object
- The acceleration
What is acceleration?
- How quickly velocity changes
- How far you have travelled
- How long the journey took
A flat horizontal velocity-time line means steady speed.
Circle one: True False
What does the area under a velocity-time graph give you?
- The acceleration
- The distance travelled
- The fuel used
A car goes from rest to 20 metres per second in 5 seconds. What is its acceleration in metres per second squared?
Answer: ______________
A velocity-time line slopes downward as time passes. What is happening?
- Speeding up
- Slowing down
- Stopped
A bus travels at a steady 10 metres per second for 6 seconds. How far does it travel in metres?
Answer: ______________
A bus speeds up steadily from a stop. Which pair of graphs matches?
- Curved distance-time with straight rising velocity-time
- Straight distance-time with curved velocity-time
- Flat lines on both graphs

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The acceleration · Steepness of the line is the acceleration.
How quickly velocity changes · Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
True · Zero slope means zero acceleration, so speed holds steady.
The distance travelled · Area under the line equals distance travelled.
4 · Change in velocity over time: 20 divided by 5 is 4.
Slowing down · Falling velocity on the graph means slowing down.
60 · The area is a rectangle: 10 times 6 is 60.
Curved distance-time with straight rising velocity-time · Steady speeding curves the distance graph and straightens the velocity one.