IB Diploma

Standard Level Mathematics

Portfolio: Type II
Stopping Distances
Dinesh Manu Tharani 6U1
Introduction
When a driver stops his/her car, (s)he must first think to apply the brakes. Then the brakes must actually stop the vehicle.
This portfolio is going to mathematically investigate the relationships between the speed of a car and the thinking distance,
braking distance and overall stopping distance. In this task, I will develop individual functions that model the relationship
between speed and thinking distance, as well as speed and braking distance. I will also develop a model for the relationship
between speed and overall distance. This will be achieved by using GDC/Graphing Software to create two data plots: speed
versus thinking distance and speed versus braking distance, for which the results will be evaluated and described. I will then
develop a function that will model the relationship and behavior of the graphs based on my knowledge of functions. I will then
add the thinking and breaking distance to obtain an overall stopping distance, from which I will once again graph the data and
describe it’s results, whilst evaluating the correlation between the graph obtained from these results and the graphs obtained
from the comparison between the speed vs. thinking/braking distance. Finally, I will evaluate how the additional set of data
relates to the graph in the previous step and the possible modifications to be made.

Initial Data Set

The table below lists average times for these processes at various speeds.
Speed (kmh) Thinking distance (m) Braking distance (m)

32 6 6

48 9 14

64 12 24

80 15 38

96 18 55
 112 21 75

Speed vs. Thinking distance

Speed (kmh) Thinking distance (m)

32 6

48 9

64 12

80 15

96 18

112 21

Linear Relationship
Hand calculated model

(32,6)
(64,12)

Substitution

Therefore;

So, if
Then,

Therefore;

The hand calculated model of the relationship between the speed of the vehicle to the thinking distance is ;

GDC Calculated

Description
In the graph above, I the points plotted are clearly in a straight line. This means that there is a linear relationship between the
points. Below I have hand calculated the equation of a linear relationship, which results in the equation to be . I also
used graphing software to calculate the equation of the line by entering the points in to the program. The program produced
EXACTLY the same result. Above, both the lines (hand calculated & GDC calculated) are graphed, but overlap, which is why
only one line is visible. However, if you look on the left hand side of the graph, you will see the first point saying “Speed-
thinking distances” are the points inputted in to the program, the on that is highlighted is the model the graphing program has
created, which you can see on top of the graph and the last one is the hand calculated model put in to the graph. This graph
tells us that there is a linear relationship between the speed of a vehicle and the thinking distance. This makes sense because
imagine in real life, when one is driving, it is almost always that the driver takes longer to think as they go faster.
Speed vs. Braking distance

Braking distance
Speed (kmh) (m)

32 6

48 14

64 24

80 38

96 55

112 75
GDC models
Quadratic Relationship
The GDC calculated for the quadratic relationship was

Cubic Relationship
The GDC calculated for the quadratic relationship was

Description
In the graphs above, the plotted points are in a curve. This can mean one of two things; either there is a quadratic relationship
or a cubic relationship. After working out the equation for the quadratic and cubic relationships, it is clear that they both fit the
data properly. However, the cubic function is only suitable for this data, not in realistic terms. This is because cubic functions
go to infinty and in real terms it is impossible to find a car being able to go faster than a certain speed. Therefore, the quadratic
relationship is more suited to the data. It also makes sense that it is a quadratic as you can only imagine as the speed is higher,
the brake will be pressed down on more abruptly, therefore making the distance shorter, yet in quicker time – this justifies the
quick shoot up of the line.

Speed vs. Overall Stopping Distance

Overall stopping
Speed (kmh) distance (m)

32 12

48 23

64 36

80 53

96 73

112 96
GDC model
Quadratic Relationship
The GDC calculated for the quadratic relationship was

Description
I only modeled a quadratic function here, as I justified from the last graph (speed vs. braking distance). This graph is very
similar to the one of the breaking distance. It also makes sense seeing that the faster the car will be going, the time it will take
to stop will increase more rapidly than the distance it takes.
Thinking Distance vs. Overall Stopping Distance
Description
The clearest relation between the two models is the fact that the gradient is exactly the same on both models. It makes sense
that the thinking distance curve(green) is less steep than the stopping distance(red) as the breaking distance is not added to
the thinking distance. This graph can be used to tell how significant the braking distance as it clearly shows the difference
between the stopping distance and the thinking distance.

Additional data – Model fit

Overall stopping
Speed (kmh) distance (m)

10 2.5

40 17

90 65

160 180
How does it fit the model and what modifications can be made?
The additional points have been plotted in red in collaboration with the stopping distance data created from the initial data.
As we can see on the graph, the additional information is fairly accurate, and fits the model perfectly. There are no major
modifications needed, as the data seems to fit on to the line rather perfectly. One minor addition rather that modification that
could be made is to try the vehicle’s highest speed to see whether or not this model is valid through all the speed of the vehicle.

Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that there is a linear relationship between the speed and thinking distance, whilst there is a quadratic
relationship between the speed and breaking and the stopping distances. I believe that this is an obvious outcome because it
makes sense that when the car is at a low speed, the break will be pushed down in a controlled manner, hence making the
distance increase quicker than the time, where as, if the vehicle is going at a much quicker speed, the driver will tend to push
down on the brake more abruptly and will stop over a smaller distance but quicker.