Travel Graphs

Distance, rate of speed, and time are related by the formula: Distance = Speed x Time.
All ofthese quantities have units attached to them. For example, distance can be measured in metres, or
feet, or miles. Time can be measured in seconds, minutes or hours.

. . Distance
If Dlstance = Speed x Tlme then Speed = ----
Time
If Distance is given in metres (m) and Time is given in seconds(s) then Speed will be measured in

mls. ie Distance m Note: m = ms-1

x-
Time s s

••• Example: Usain ran a 150 metre track in 15 seconds. What was his rate of speed?

150 (m) -1
Distance = 150 metres(m); Time = 15 seconds(s); Speed= ---= 10ms
15 (s)

The result indicates that for every second, Usain travelled an average distance of 10 metres.

Distance / Time Graph

D(m)
............

+5-0·
............ / I
Notes

·120· / The gradient of a Distance/Time

graph represent the speed.
............ /
.....9.0. / Speed x Distance = 150 = 10
............ / Time. 15
......6.( /
............ /
.....}.c, V
............ /
71
o
,
3
, ,
6
, , ,
9
,
12 15 t(s)
-------------)+
Run
Acceleration: Rate of Change of Velocity (Speed)
Travel Graphs

-
Velocity is speed in a given direction

. _ Velocity _ m I s _ m . s _ m I _m _ -2
Aeeeleratl on - --- - -- - - -;-- - - x- - - - ms
Time s sIs s s2
Or kml h = km +~= kmx.l= km =kmh-2
h h I h h h2
••• Example:

A motorist starts from rest and accelerates uniformly, taking 10 seconds to reach a speed of 40 mls.

Calculate the rate at which his speed changes (acceleration)

. Velocity 40ml s 4 -2
A eee lerati on = --- = --- = ms
Time las

Vmls j
........... ··········,···········:···········1··················· : : !.··········1
....................... ! , ·r..·.··.T..· ·!·· ·T..·..··..r···· r·········i •• Notes

...... ···········I···········,··········r·········:···········:··········r·········i··········r····················! The gradient of a Velocity/Time

graph represent the Acceleration.
............ . ~ i··········.1 , '1'··········i···········:··········.1....... ·~···········I
......3. 1 : : I" •••••••••• J 1" ••••••••••••••••••••• 1"

. Rise 40
1
Acceleratl on = -- =- =4
Run 10

Area under graph = distance travelled

:;:;111 11:!11 1
••• Example:
total distance travelled
······r·········!··········I"···········:·········T··········I···········i·····
..····:···········, = area of triangle formed below the
: :
graph.
o 2 4 6 8 10
~
t(s)
Run total distance =
1
-xl0(s)x40(m/ s) = 200 m
2
-
Travel Graphs
Mathematics for Caribbean Examinations

• Example:

Graph 1: Graph 2:

Distance /Time graph of a cyclist Distance/Time graph of a Bus and a Car

The cyclist starts from rest journeying between two towns X and Y.
between t = 0 and t = 1; the cyclist travelled
30 km at a constant speed of 30 km/h At 8:00; the bus left town,
and travelled towards town Y at a constant speed
between t = 1 and t = 3; he stopped for 2 hours of 10 km/h.

between t = 3 and t = 6; he travelled another 9:00; the car left town Y and travelled towards
town X at a constant speed of 20 km/h 1 hour.
20 km at a constant speed of 20 km/h
3 9:30; the bus and the car met; the bus is 15 km
Total time taken for the journey = 6 hours. from town X and 10 km from town Y.
Total distance travelled = 50 km. The car is 10 km from town Y and 15 km from
town X.
. 50 1 -1
Average speed for Journey = - = 8- ms
6 3
10:00 - 10 :30; the car stopped
10:30; the bus arrived at town Y
11:00; the car arrived at town X
Distance between X and Y = 25 km .

···········(km) .......
~ _ ··(k~r

..5.0 1 , + + . ....., :..........,..2.5

i. ...4.0 , r ..· ! ............. ~..... . ~

I
.......
1
I
L,20 .
.~',

!....3'O . •••••••
•••••7 •••••••••••••••
, •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
:. • •••••• tJ.5 ....
I ~ r'-·.
: +.

f'"
L.20 . : l~:..lO. 1 1
···············t········'Y~•. ·····1·············

I i'
····.l.~
1.0..... ...., ,... , ,.... ........, ,...... .. J...
I
;>.5.
:'
. ......,:. .
~.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•T.:=····· ······l .;...

i· ••••
I +. :
...........
i' " . +.:
1············

5, I
lj 2 3 4 6 trh)
I
8:00 9:0p 10:00 11:00 ~t

--- Bus
---------- Car
 Travel Graphs

Graph 4:
-
Graph 3:

Velocity/Time graph representing the journey Distance/Time graph of an athlete who had ran
of a motorist. a 60 m race.

The motorist starts from rest between t = 0 and t = 3; the athlete accelerated.
2
He accerated uniformly at a rate of 6 m1s ( change in speed)
for 10 seconds reaching a speed of 60 m1s.
within the last 30 m of the race, he travelled at a
He then travelled at 60 m1s for 10 seconds constant speed of 10 m1s
(between t = 10 and t = 20)
His speed when t = 2 seconds can be calculated
Note: when the velocity is constant, by drawing a tangent to the curve at t = 2
the acceleration = 0 and find its gradient.

During the last 15 seconds (t = 20 to t = 35 ),

he deccelerated at a rate of 4 m1s2 and
coming to a stop when t = 35. acc = -4 ms-2,
dec. = + 4ms-2

Note: acceleration is to increase speed,

decceleration is to decrease speed (slow down).
The total distance travelled may be calculated by
finding the area of the trapezium formed by the
graph.

1 m 45s 60m
distance =-(10s+35s)· 60-=-· --
2 s 2 s
Total distance = 1350 m

uuuuuwu.Y.m!~.uuuu .u.....Graph 3 ...u..u.. ...uuu....uJ! ~l Graph 4

...... 9.0 u; .u.. .u.. ..,. .uuu..uuu..uuuQ9 ......... j ..... ····..1····· .;..... ...~.... . ! .

.. u5Qu. . ~ .

. ....u.40.u. .u..u.4.0 ...

...30.... •.•.•j. . .30 .. ..............! ······i

... u.20u .

.uulOu.

o 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 t(s) o 2 3 4 5 6 t(s)
- Mathematics for Caribbean Examinations

1. What is the distance, in kIn, travelled by a motorist who travelled at a constant speed of 120 km/h
°
for 1 minutes?

Question 2 refer to the diagram below, which shows the Velocity/Time graph of a motorist.
6

50 --~---r--~---T---~--1---f--~
I I I I I I I I

--1---
I I I I
--i---r--1
I I I I
I I I I I I I I
30 --i- -i--i---i---i- i---i--i
I I I I I I I
I I I I I 1 1
--, --r--,---T---r--, --r--,
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
10 - ,---i--i---t---i--~-- I---~
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
-,---r--j---T---r--,---r -,
I 1 I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time (s)
2. (a) For what length of time did the motorist accelerate? .

(b) For what length of time did the motorist decelerate? .

(c) What was the acceleration of the motorist between t = 4 and t = 10 seconds?

(d) What was the total distance travelled, in metres, by the motorist?

3. Jamie cycled a distance of 6 kIn in 20 minutes. At what speed did he cycle? Give your
answer in km/h.

4. How long will Itake to cover a distance 250,000 m if! travel at a speed of 50 kIn per hour?
 Travel Graphs

-
5. The distance-time graph below describes the journey of a train between two train stations,
A andB.
200

120
8
.::0::

.5

o 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time in minutes

(i) For how many minutes was the train at rest at B? .

(ii) Determine the average speed ofthe train, in km/h, on its journey from A to B.

The train continued its journey away from stations A and B to another" station C, which is
80 kIn from B. The average speed on this journey was 60 km/h.

(iii) Calculate the time, in minutes, taken for the train to travel from B to C.

(iv) On the given graph above, draw the line segment which describes the journey of the
train from B to C.

6. Peter ran a distance of 400 m in 1 minute. Calculate his speed in kilometres per hour, assuming
he ran at a constant speed.
- Mathematics for Caribbean Examinations

7. The diagram below shows the speed-time graph of the motion of an athlete during a race.

Speed
in m/s
14

1 2 3 4 5 678 9 10 11 12 13
Time in seconds

(a) Using the graph, determine

i) the MAXIMUM speed .

ii) the number of seconds for which the speed was constant .

iii) the TOTAL distance covered by the athlete during the race.

(b) Calculate the acceleration of the athlete during the first 2 seconds.

(c) During which time period ofthe race was the acceleration of the athlete zero?

(d) At what rate did the athlete's speed decelerate before coming to a stop?
 Travel Graphs

Distance( kIn)
·······r··········:···········r
..······:·········..r··········1···········:···········~···········r
..········1···········I···········;···········1
..........5..0 ... ······1············~········ B
i i •.

,
iii

, '
iii

, ,
i
~ ~····~···········l···········~···········l···········~···········l···········~·····
········i···········i,·

.:::::::...~:::::::::::i..::.......I.::::::::::,:~:;:[::.:::.::::::::::I::·······:···········;---·· ~ ~
. . . . . . :. ·····-r··········iBriJ···········I··········j
35 ..i,' .1.. 1,· . !.'······T'···
~ : , ' : ~..' . Bus
: ,: ~ ~
i·······l,····l······· .......
Car
: : ,: , ,

....::::::,::::.::-... ··········,·:-:::::::r:::::::::.:~:;I.::....:l.:-······· . ...... i

.;~;;

........
_ 5s~·~·····car
.
j j j . . . .
............: ·········~···········l, +..... ...~.: . + : ~,...... i·····.····, i ~

5 ;;
······i···········~···········i···
., ; .'
., ·········i···········~···········i······
_.i,.. ~s.",·",
, :,:
..,i
A
20 40 60 80 100 130
Time (minutes)

8. The graph above shows the motion of a bus and a car travelling between two towns A
and B. The bus is moving from A to B, while the car is moving from B to A.

(a) Ifthe bus left town A at 8:30

(i) What time did the bus reach town B? .

(ii) What time did the Car leave town B? .

(iii) What time did the car reach town A? .

(b) State the distance between A and B .

(c) How long did the bus stop? .

(d) State the average speed of the car in kmh·1 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

(e) How far from A did the bus and the car pass one another? .
- Mathematics for Caribbean Examinations

9. A bus left town X at 08:05 hours and travelled to town Y, 48 km away, at an average speed of
60 kmh-1

(a) At what time did the bus arrive at town Y? .

(b) On its return journey, the bus took 90 minutes to travel from town Y to X.
Calculate the average speed of the bus, in kmh-1 for:

(i) the return journey from town Yto X .

(ii) the entire journey, giving your answer correct to 3 significant figures

10. A motorist starting a car from rest, accelerates uniformly to a speed of 90 km/h in 5 seconds.
He maintains this speed for another 2 seconds. He then applies the brake and decelerates
uniformly in 4 seconds.

(a) On the given axes below, draw a diagram of the velocity/time graph to show different
segments of the journey

······················V
..kmlh·T " , ". (b) Determine·
...........................
9{) "1" . ·········t···········~···········-:-···········~ .:. :
(i) the acceleration, in ms-2,
····························go· ···········1· + + t" ,. ········r.·········...!···········t···········!·········~···········i
during the first 5 seconds.
~ : : : ~ .
·····························7{}·········--j-········+··· --j- + + + j +.·······--j-·········f···········j
j ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~:
·····························60··········-+·······+···· -+
. ~ .
+
.
+
.
+
.
+
.
+
.
j
--j-
:
+
~

.
~
!~
···············"5"0 ..+ i- j , , , , y + y ,
j ~ 1
················40· ·······+·········t··········+·······t··········i· " , ~..········i········ + . (ii) the deceleration, in ms -2,
........................ :::::~:: ...+ ···::::r::::::: ..~..::::::::: ········r·······i ··r·········("··..:::::::::::: , during the last 4 seconds .
........ ) 1···········t···········J····
······1.()· ···········1 .........•......... ,...........•......... ,............ . ..........•........... ,........ . ,
········T ~ ~ "'r
(iii) the total distance travelled,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 in metres .
Time (seconds)