1. What is distance a measure of?

2. What unit is distance measure in?

3. What is speed a measure of?
4. What unit is speed measure in?
5. Which equation connects speed, distance and time?
6. What is the speed of an object which is stationary?
7. What unit is velocity measured in?
8. What is the difference between speed and velocity?
9. Which equation connects velocity, distance and time?
10.An object travels 25 m in 5 s. What is its velocity?
11.What does constant velocity mean?
12.What does acceleration mean?
13.What unit is acceleration measured in?
14.Which equation connects acceleration, velocity and time?
15.What is negative acceleration sometimes called?
16.A car changes from 10 m s-1 to 30 m s-1 in 8 s. What is its acceleration?
17.A bicycle moving at 10 ms-1 stops in 10 s. What is its acceleration?
18.What does constant acceleration mean?
19.Draw a distance-time graph for an object at rest.
20.Draw a distance-time graph for an object with constant velocity.
21.Draw a distance-time graph for an object with acceleration.
22.Draw a velocity-time graph for an object with constant velocity.
23.Draw a velocity-time graph for an object with constant acceleration.
24.How total distance travelled is calculated from a velocity-time graph?

What are Distance, Displacement, Speed and Velocity?

What is Distance?
Distance is a measure of how far an object has travelled from its starting point, or how far away it is.
Distance is the same as length and is measured in metres.
What is the Difference between Distance and Displacement?
Displacement (like distance above) is also a measure of how far an object has travelled from its
starting point but displacement also tells you the direction of the object.
Distance is a scalar and displacement is a vector.
What is Speed?
Speed is a measure of how fast an object is moving. It is measured in metres per second, written as
m/s.
Speed = Distance Time.
What is Velocity?
Velocity is similar to speed. It is also a measure of how fast an object is moving and is measured in
m/s.
Velocity = Distance Time.
If an object is not moving then it is called stationary. The speed or velocity of a stationary object is
zero.
What is the Difference between Velocity and Speed?
The difference between velocity and speed is that velocity is speed in a certain direction. Speed is a
scalar and velocity is a vector.
If an object is moving in a straight line, then its speed and velocity will be the same. If the moving
object stays at the same speed but changes direction then we say that the velocity has changed
(because the direction has changed) but the speed has stayed the same.
If the velocity in one direction is positive (for example, forwards at 10 m/s) then the velocity in the
opposite direction is negative (for example, backwards at -10 m/s).
In most of the examples of motion that you will come across, the object will be moving in a straight
line. In this case, we will use the word velocity rather than speed (see the next page for calculations).
How to Calculate Speed or Velocity?
How is the Velocity of an Object Calculated?

Either Speed or Velocity = Distance Time.

For example, if an object moving in a straight line travels 25 metres in 5 seconds,

then its velocity = 25 5
= 5 m/s.
You must always say what the units are! (in this case m/s, called "metres per second").
Always check what units are given in the question.
If the time is given in hours or minutes, then convert it to seconds before doing the calculation.
What is Constant Velocity?
If an objects velocity does not change, we say that it has a constant velocity. In the above example, we
are not told whether the object has a constant velocity, or whether its velocity has changed during the
5 seconds.
If the velocity has changed, then the answer we have calculated is an average velocity of 5 m/s.
If the velocity has not changed, then the object had a constant velocity of 5 m/s.
When an objects velocity changes, it is called acceleration.
What is Acceleration?
A change in velocity is called acceleration.
What is the Equation for Acceleration?
Acceleration = Change in Velocity Time.
This equation is written as
a = (v-u) t
where a = acceleration
v = final velocity (the one it ended up with)
u = initial velocity (the one it started with)
t = time
This equation is important!
What are the Units of Acceleration?
The units of acceleration are m/s2 called "metres per second squared".

What is Negative Acceleration?

If an object gets faster, it will have a positive acceleration.

If an object gets slower, it will have a negative acceleration
(this is sometimes called "deceleration" but the term "negative acceleration" is preferred).
How to Calculate Acceleration?
How is the Acceleration of an Object Calculated?
Acceleration = Change in Velocity Time.
a = (v-u) t
where a = acceleration
v = final velocity (the one it ended up with)
u = initial velocity (the one it started with)
t = time
This equation can be rearranged.

Example 1. If a car changes from 10 m/s to 30 m/s in 8 seconds,

what is its acceleration?
v = 30
u = 10
t=8
a = (30 - 10) 8
= 20 8
= 25 m/s2
Example 2. If a bicycle moving at 15 m/s takes 10 seconds to stop,
what is its acceleration?
In this example,
the final velocity is zero because the bicycle has stopped.
v=0
u = 15
t = 10
a = (0 - 15) 10
= -15 10
= -15 m/s2
The acceleration is negative because the bicycle has slowed down.
What is Constant Acceleration?

Acceleration is the rate of change of an objects velocity.

The object is said to have constant acceleration if it gets faster (or slower, or its direction changes) at
the same rate.
What is a Distance - Time Graph?
A distance - time graph shows how an objects distance (how far it has gone) changes with time.
The picture below shows a distance - time graph for an object that is stationary.

The above graph shows an object which is not moving (at rest).
The straight horizontal line shows that its distance stays the same as time goes by because it is not
moving.
The picture below shows a distance - time graph for an object with a constant velocity.

The straight line sloping upwards in the graph above shows that the objects distance increases as time
goes by.
The object has velocity because it is moving.
The straight line shows that it is a constant velocity.
The gradient (slope) of the line shows how fast the object is going.
The greater the slope, the bigger the velocity is.
Compare this with the velocity - time graph for constant velocity.

What are the Distance - Time Graphs

for Constant Velocity and Acceleration?
The picture below shows a distance - time graph for an object with a constant velocity.

The straight line shows an object moving with constant velocity.

Compare this with the graph on the previous page and you will see that the slope of the line is down
rather than up.
This means that the object is moving in the opposite direction.
The slope of the line shows how fast the object is moving.

What is the Distance - Time Graph for Acceleration?

The curve in the above graph shows that the objects velocity is changing as time goes by.
Changing velocity is called acceleration.
How can a Distance - Time Graph be used to show the Motion of an Object?
You may be shown a graph like the one below and be asked to describe the motion of the object.

In region A the object is moving with constant velocity.

In region B the object is at rest (not moving).
In region C the object is again moving with a constant velocity but compared with region A
1. the object is moving more slowly because the slope is less steep

2. the object is moving in the opposite direction

because distance is decreasing as time goes by.
Compare this with the velocity - time on page 11.
What is a Velocity - Time Graph?
A velocity - time graph shows how an objects velocity (how fast it is moving) changes with time.
Velocity - Time Graphs for Constant Velocity and Constant Acceleration.
The picture below shows a velocity - time graph for an object with a velocity that does not change.

The straight horizontal line in the graph above shows that the objects velocity does not change as time
goes by.
The object is said to have a constant velocity.
Compare this with the distance - time graph for constant velocity.

The picture below shows a velocity - time graph for an object with a velocity that increases at a
constant rate.

The straight line sloping upwards in the graph above shows that the objects velocity is increasing as
time goes by.
Increasing velocity is called acceleration.
What is Constant Acceleration?

The straight line in the graph above shows that the velocity of the object has a constant acceleration.
This means that the velocity of the object is changing at a constant rate.
The slope of the line in the graph above shows
1. the acceleration is positive because the line slopes upwards
2. how fast the acceleration is.
The greater the slope, the faster the acceleration is.
Velocity - Time Graphs for Constant Negative Acceleration and Changing Acceleration.
The picture below shows a velocity - time graph for an object with a velocity that decreases at a
constant rate.

The straight line sloping downwards in the graph above shows that the objects velocity is decreasing
as time goes by.
This is called negative acceleration.
The straight line shows that it is constant negative acceleration.
The slope of the line shows
1. the acceleration is negative because the line slopes downwards
2. how fast the negative acceleration is.
The greater the slope, the faster the acceleration is.
The picture below shows a velocity - time graph for an object with an acceleration that increases.

The curve in the above graph shows that the acceleration is not constant because the slope is getting
steeper.
It is changing acceleration that increases as time goes by.
How can a Velocity - Time Graph be used to show the Motion of an Object?

You may be shown a graph like the one below and be asked to describe the motion of the object.

In region A the object is moving with constant acceleration.

In region B the object is moving with constant velocity.
In region C the object is again moving with constant acceleration but compared with region A
1. the acceleration is slower because the slope is less steep
2. the acceleration is negative because the slope is downwards.
The total distance travelled by the object can be calculated by measuring the area under the graph.
How can a Velocity - Time Graph be used to show the Total Distance Travelled by an Object?
The total distance travelled by the object can be calculated by measuring the area between the graph
and the baseline. This is called the area under the graph.

The area under the graph shown on the previous page

can be divided into two triangles and one rectangle.
The area of triangle A is half base x height
= 05 x 10 x 20
= 100.
The area of triangle C
= 05 x (70 - 30) x 20

= 400.
The area of rectangle B
= (30 - 10) x 20
= 400.
The distance travelled is the total area = A + B + C
= 100 + 400 + 400
= 900 m.