Begs es 0 amohv PresiCons UTA WELD You Tryit 12 Calculate This runner completed a 100-meter race with, atime of 13.75 seconds. What was her average speed? Identity ‘A. What do you know? B. What do you want to find out? Plan . Drawand label a sketch: D. Write the formula: E. Substitute into the formula: Solve F. Calculate and simplify: G. Check that your units agreeconstant speed graphed? A convenient way to show the motion of an object is by using a graph that plots the distance the object has traveled against time. This type of graph is called a distance-time graph. You can use it to see how both distance and speed change with time. How far away the object is from a reference point is plotted on the y-axis. So the y-axis expresses distance in units such as meters, centimeters, or kilometers. Time is plotted on the x-axis, and can display units such as seconds, minutes, or hours. If an object moves at a constant speed, the graph is a straight line. You can use a distance-time graph to determine the average speed of an object. The slope, or steepness, of the line is equal to the average speed of the object. You calculate the average speed for a time interval by dividing the change in distance by the change in time for that time interval. Suppose that an ostrich is running at a constant speed. The distance-time graph of its motion is shown below. To calculate the speed of the ostrich, choose two data points from the graph below and calculate the slope of the line. The calculation of the slope is shown below. Since we know that the slope of a line on a distance- time graph is its average speed, then we know that the ostrich’s speed is 14 m/s. Distance-Time Graph ofan Ostrich 0 ot | —> (20,140) id Using these Fw ~ e [peints, you can find ‘ v= | — fpr How canyoucalevlate = =” slope? :. changeiny 8 flope= Gere ange in x s 140 m —70 m 105-55 ” 10m 5s £. = 14 m/s ‘i 12 | Unit Motion and ForcesDistancecTime Graph of an Ant 43 Graph An ant is walking at a constant speed of 30 cm/min. Fill out the table below to help you draw a distance-time graph ‘ofthe ant’s motion ifit were to walk for 6 minutes. time (min) | distance (em) 1 30 SP How are changing speeds graphed? ‘Some distance-time graphs show the motion of an object with a changing speed. In these distance-time graphs, the change in the slope of a line indicates that the object has either sped up, slowed down, or stopped. ‘As an object moves, the distance it travels increases with time. ‘The motion can be seen as a climbing line on the graph. The slope of the line indicates speed. Steeper lines show intervals where the speed is greater than intervals with less steep lines. Ifthe line gets steeper, the object is speeding up. Ifthe line gets less steep, the object is slowing. Ifthe line becomes flat, or horizontal, the object, is not moving. In this interval, the speed is zero meters per second For objects that change speed, you can calculate speed for a specific interval of time. You would choose two points close together on the graph. Or, you can calculate the average speed over a long interval of time. You would choose two points far apart on the graph to calculate an average over a long interval of time. (SS TETE ZIT) 14 Anatyze if a line on a distance-time graph becomes steeper, what has happened to the speed of the object? What if becomes a flat horizontal tine? Time jin) Lesson 1Motion and Speed 13