Module 1—Motion

Lesson Summary

 

There were two general problems to solve in this lesson:

• How are position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs related by slope?

• How are position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs related by area?

Position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs can be used to describe, compare, and interpret accelerated motion. The following slope and area relationships can be used to solve complex problems and describe accelerated motion.

• The slope of a position-time graph is a measure of instantaneous velocity.

• The slope of a velocity-time graph is a measure of instantaneous acceleration.

• The area of an acceleration-time graph is a measure of the total change in velocity.

• The area of a velocity-time graph is a measure of the total change in position.

Lesson Glossary

 

accelerated motion: motion of an object that is either increasing or decreasing in speed or changing direction

 

acceleration-time graph: a graph showing the acceleration of an object at varying times, where time is the independent variable and acceleration is the dependent variable

 

area: a quantity specifying the size of a region

 

area relationships: used to find velocity from an acceleration-time graph or displacement from a velocity-time graph

 

instantaneous velocity: the velocity of an object at an instant of time; the slope of the tangent line to the position-time graph for the selected time

 

non-uniform motion: motion that is not at a constant speed in a straight line

 

slope: a measure of the steepness of a curve

 

Physics 20 © 2008 Alberta Education