The velocity will be positive, but slowing down toward zero, cross through zero as the object turns around, and then begin increasing in the negative direction. time graph for an object is flat at -9.8 m/s/s (for a choice of downward as the negative direction). For example, an object thrown into the air with an initial velocity of 5 m/s, from an initial position of 2 m that then falls to the ground at 0 m. Neglecting air resistance, the acceleration will be constant at negative g, or -9.8 m/s/s. Let’s end this section with some interesting graphs – those of an object that changes direction. The position graph is constant at the initial value of position, the velocity graph is constant at zero and the acceleration graph is also constant at zero.
We haven’t made motion graphs for the situation of constant position because they are relatively unexciting. The intercept is the initial position, in this example 2 m. The curvature is upward for positive acceleration and downward for negative accelerations. time graph of an object with constant acceleration is a parabolic curve. The result of a changing slope is a curved graph, and specifically a curve with a constantly-changing slope is a parabolic curve, or a parabola. time graph is linear with a slope equal to the 2 m/s/s acceleration value and intercept equal to the initial velocity value of 4 m/s.įinally, if the velocity is changing at a constant rate, then the slope of the position graph, which represents the velocity, must also be changing at a constant rate. For our constant 2 m/s/s acceleration the velocity graph should have a constant slope of 2 m/s/s: The velocity vs. time graph is flat at the acceleration value, in this example 2 m/s/sĪcceleration is the rate at which velocity changes, so acceleration is the slope of the velocity vs. time remains constant at 2 m/s/s: The acceleration vs. Let’s give our object the same initial position of 2 m, and initial velocity of 4 m/s, and now a constant acceleration of 2 m/s/s. Now let’s look at motion graphs for an object with constant acceleration. The graph crosses position 10 meters at time 2 seconds. time graph is linear with a slope that is equal to the 4 m/s velocity and intercept that is equal to the 2 m initial position. The slope of a motion graph tells us the rate of change of the variable on the vertical axis, so we can understand velocity as the slope of the position vs. time graph should change at a constant rate, starting from the initial position (in our example, 2 m).
Velocity is the rate at which position changes, so the position v. time will remain at the 4 m/s value: The velocity vs. The velocity is constant, so the graph of velocity vs. time graph for an object with constant velocity is flat at zero. time just remains at zero: The acceleration vs. An object moving at constant velocity has zero acceleration, so the graph of acceleration vs. We will start by looking at the motion graphs of on object with an initial position of 2 m and constant velocity of 4 m/s.
Our goal is to create motion graphs for our example skydiver, but first let’s make sure we get the basic idea. Motion graphs are a useful tool for visualizing and communicating information about an object’s motion.