2/16/2017 MeaningofSlopeforavtGraph

TheMeaningofSlopeforavtGraph
MeaningofShapeforavtGraph
MeaningofSlopeforavtGraph
RelatingtheShapetotheMotion
DeterminingtheSlopeonavtGraph
DeterminingtheAreaonavtGraph

AsdiscussedinthepreviouspartofLesson4,theshapeofavelocityversustimegraphreveals
pertinentinformationaboutanobject'sacceleration.Forexample,iftheaccelerationiszero,thenthe
velocitytimegraphisahorizontalline(i.e.,theslopeiszero).Iftheaccelerationispositive,thenthe
lineisanupwardslopingline(i.e.,theslopeispositive).Iftheaccelerationisnegative,thenthe
velocitytimegraphisadownwardslopingline(i.e.,theslopeisnegative).Iftheaccelerationisgreat,
thenthelineslopesupsteeply(i.e.,theslopeisgreat).Thisprinciplecanbeextendedtoanymotion
conceivable.Thustheshapeofthelineonthegraph(horizontal,sloped,steeplysloped,mildlysloped,
etc.)isdescriptiveoftheobject'smotion.Inthispartofthelesson,wewillexaminehowtheactual
slopevalueofanystraightlineonavelocitytimegraphistheaccelerationoftheobject.

AnalyzingaConstantVelocityMotion
Consideracarmovingwithaconstantvelocityof+10m/s.Acarmovingwithaconstantvelocityhas
anaccelerationof0m/s/s.

Thevelocitytimedataandgraphwouldlooklikethegraphbelow.Notethatthelineonthegraphis
horizontal.Thatistheslopeofthelineis0m/s/s.Inthiscase,itisobviousthattheslopeoftheline(0
m/s/s)isthesameastheacceleration(0m/s/s)ofthecar.

Time Velocity
(s) (m/s)
0 10
1 10
2 10
3 10
4 10
5 10

Sointhiscase,theslopeofthelineisequaltotheaccelerationofthevelocitytimegraph.Nowwewill
examineafewothergraphstoseeifthisisaprinciplethatistrueofallvelocityversustimegraphs.

AnalyzingaChangingVelocityMotion
Nowconsideracarmovingwithachangingvelocity.Acarwithachangingvelocitywillhavean
acceleration.

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2/16/2017 MeaningofSlopeforavtGraph

Thevelocitytimedataforthismotionshowthatthecarhasanaccelerationvalueof10m/s/s.(In
Lesson6,wewilllearnhowtorelatepositiontimedatasuchasthatinthediagramabovetoan
accelerationvalue.)Thegraphofthisvelocitytimedatawouldlooklikethegraphbelow.Notethatthe
lineonthegraphisdiagonalthatis,ithasaslope.Theslopeofthelinecanbecalculatedas10m/s/s.
Itisobviousonceagainthattheslopeoftheline(10m/s/s)isthesameastheacceleration(10m/s/s)
ofthecar.

Time Velocity
(s) (m/s)
0 0
1 10
2 20
3 30
4 40
5 50

AnalyzingaTwoStageMotion
Inbothinstancesabovetheconstantvelocitymotionandthechangingvelocitymotion,theslopeof
thelinewasequaltotheacceleration.Asalastillustration,wewillexamineamorecomplexcasea
twostagemotion.Considerthemotionofacarthatfirsttravelswithaconstantvelocity(a=0m/s/s)of
2m/sforfoursecondsandthenacceleratesatarateof+2m/s/sforfourseconds.Thatis,inthefirst
fourseconds,thecarisnotchangingitsvelocity(thevelocityremainsat2m/s)andthenthecar
increasesitsvelocityby2m/spersecondoverthenextfourseconds.Thevelocitytimedataandgraph
aredisplayedbelow.Observetherelationshipbetweentheslopeofthelineduringeachfoursecond
intervalandthecorrespondingaccelerationvalue.
Time Velocity
(s) (m/s)
0 2
1 2
2 2
3 2
4 2
5 4
6 6
7 8
8 10
From0sto4s:slope=0m/s/s
From4sto8s:slope=2m/s/s

Amotionsuchastheoneabovefurtherillustratestheimportantprinciple:theslopeofthelineona
velocitytimegraphisequaltotheaccelerationoftheobject.Thisprinciplecanbeusedforallvelocity
timeinordertodeterminethenumericalvalueoftheacceleration.

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