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Calculus | Packer Collegiate Institute

Drawing (Instantaneous) Velocity

PART I: Where is your intuition?

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Part II: Playing around
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Directions: Go to http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Calculus_Grapher
and click “run now!” Unclick the box marked “derivative” and then play around with the
settings. Once you have a feel for the applet, reproduce the functions. Then when you
have a good approximation, click the box marked “derivative.” Draw what you see
below.

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Part III: Observations

Play around with the simulation. Write down FOUR observations you can come up with,
no matter how obvious – and try to explain them.

Example:

Observation: I observe that if my function is at the top of a peak or trough, the

instantaneous velocity is 0.
Possible Explanation: Since the tangent line is horizontal at the top of a peak or
trough, the velocity at that moment is 0. The object – for that moment in time – is not
moving.