(b) How can you get acceleration and distance travelled from a velocity time graph.
Answers
Explanation:
Case I: Acceleration
Since acceleration = velocity/time,
we have to find the slope of the graph by joining the coordinates of the graph (given in the above picture). The slope can be found by dividing the highest velocity of the body in the graph by the time that was taken by the body to reach that highest velocity (for e.g. if the highest velocity was 80 m/s and the time taken to reach 80 m/s was 8 seconds, then slope = 80/8).
Case II: Distance ( or displacement)
Since Velocity = Displacement/Time
So Displacement = Velocity × Time
To find the displacement in the velocity-time graph, we have to find the area of the graph by applying the polygon's area formula. In the above graph, the polygon formed is a triangle. So to find displacement, we will apply the triangle's area formula i.e. 0.5 × base × height. To find the dimensions, take the highest velocity as the height and the time taken as the base (you can refer to the graph above).
