Distance, speed

and acceleration
GCSE Additional Science

Physics 2
Chapter 15
A. Distance and Displacement
1. Distance :
A scalar quantity that refers to “how much ground
an object has covered” during its motion.

2. Displacement:
A vector quantity that refers to “how far out of
the place an object is”, it is the object’s overall
change in position
A car moves from A-B-C
The animal move from A to B

30 cm

Distance= 30 + 40 = 70 cm
 Distance, speed and acceleration
Speed = distance (metres) S

time (seconds) V×t

GCSE Additional Science

Click here for the

1) Aled walks 200m in 40s. What is his speed? answers

2) Lowri travels 2km in 1000s. What is her speed? 1) 5m/s

3) How long would it take for Dafydd to run 100m if 2) 2m/s
he runs at a speed of 10m/s?
3) 10s
4) Heledd travels at a speed of 50m/s for 20s. How
far does she travel? 4) 1000m/s
Chapter 15

5) A car travels at a speed of 85 mph (about 40m/s). 5) 500s

How long would it take for him to travel 20km?
 Distance-Time Graphs
4) Straight line at a
2) Straight horizontal line = downwards angle
40 =
Motionless Constant speed in
reverse
30
Distance (metres)
GCSE Additional Science

20

10

0 Time/s
Chapter 15

20 40 60 80 100
1) Straight line at an 3) Straight line at a greater angle
upwards angle = upwards =
Constant speed forwards (high)
Constant speed forwards (low)
 40

30
Distance (m)

20

10
GCSE Additional Science

0
20 40 60 80 100 Time (s)
Click here for the
1) What is the speed during the first 20s?
answers
2) How far is the object from the start after 60
Chapter 15

1) 0.5m/s
seconds?
2) 40m
3) What is the speed during the last 40s?
3) 1m/s in reverse
4) When was the object travelling at its fastest?
4) 40 – 60s
 Speed v Velocity
Simply, speed is the distance travelled per second …

This car’s speed is 20m/s

GCSE Additional Science

Velocity is the distance travelled per second in a specific direction …..

Chapter 15

Speed of 20m/s to the right

 Acceleration
acceleration (m/s2) = change in velocity (m/s)
time (s) V-U
a×t
GCSE Additional Science

1) A biker speeds up from 0 to 10m/s in 5

s. What is the acceleration?
2) A ball is dropped with an acceleration
Click here for the
of 10m/s2 for 12s. By how much will answers
the velocity of the ball change?
3) A car speeds up from 10 to 20m/s with 1) 2m/s2
Chapter 15

an acceleration of 2m/s2. How much

2) 120m/s
time did this change take?
3) 5s
4) A rocket speeds up from 1 000m/s to 5
000m/s in 2s. What is its acceleration? 4) 2000m/s2
 Velocity-Time Graphs
1) Line at an upwards
angle = Constant
80 4) Line at a downwards
acceleration angle =
Constant deceleration
60
velocity (m/s)
GCSE Additional Science

40

20
Chapter 15

0 t(s)
10 20 30 40 50
2) Horizontal line = 3) Line at an upwards angle =
Constant velocity Constant acceleration (lower)
 Calculating the Distance
80

60
Velocity (m/s)

40
GCSE Additional Science

20
t/s
0
10 20 30 40 50
Chapter 15

To calculate the total distance of the journey,

you must calculate the area under the graph.
 80

Velocity (m/s) 60

40

20
GCSE Additional Science

t/s
0
10 20 30 40 50
1) What is the velocity after 10s? Click here for the
answers
2) What is the acceleration between 20 a
1) 40m/s
Chapter 15

30s?
2) 2m/s2
3) What is the deceleration between 30 and
50s? 3) 3m/s2
4) What was the distance of the journey?
4) 1700m