CHUNG HWA MIDDLE SCHOOL, BSB

Year 9SC1/ Y9Sc2 – Chapter 2 (Graphical Analysis of motion)

PHYSICS NOTES – TO be written in the PHYSICS NOTEBOOK

1. Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity. In other words, the changes in velocity every second.
a. Equation:

b. Uniform acceleration occurs when the velocity increases or decreases by the same amount every second.
c. Deceleration occurs when the object slows down. It is also known as retardation or negative acceleration.

2. Distance-Time Graph

a. Object at rest (not moving/stationary) -

distance
A straight line denotes that the object is stationary.
The position from the x axis will determine its
distance from the fixed point.

time

b. Object moving with constant speed

distance
A line slanting upwards denote that the object is moving
at a constant speed away from the fixed point.

If it slants downwards, the object is moving towards the

observer.
time
c. Object moving with increasing speed (acceleration)

distance
A curve denotes that the object is moving with varying
speed. If the curve gets steeper, it accelerates (speed
increases).

time

1
 d. Object moving with decreasing speed (deceleration)

distance
A curve denotes that the object is moving with varying
speed. If the curve gets shallow, it decelerates (speed
decreases.)

time

Please TAKE NOTE: In the displacement – time graph, the gradient will give the velocity of the
object.
3. Speed-Time Graph

a. Object at rest (not moving/stationary)

speed
distance
A straight line on the time-axis denotes that the
object is at rest. It means that it is not moving
and there is no acceleration.

time

b. Object moving with constant speed

speed
distance

A straight line parallel to the time-axis denotes

that the object is moving with constant speed. It
means that the speed remains the same and
there is no acceleration.

time
c. Object moving with constant acceleration

distance
speed
A line slanting upwards denotes that the object is
moving at an increasing speed and is at constant
acceleration. .

time

2
 d. Object moving with constant deceleration

speed
distance A line slanting downwards denotes that the
object is moving at decreasing speed and is at
constant deceleration or retardation.

time

e. Object moving with increasing acceleration Object moving with decreasing acceleration

distance
speed speed

time time

A curve denotes that the object is moving with

increasing acceleration. If the curve gets steeper,
it accelerates even faster, else it decelerates.

Getting information from a Distance-Time / Speed-Time graph

Q1: The distance-time graph below shows the motion of an object.
30

25

20
distance/m

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time/s

(a) Describe the motion of this object.

The object is moving with constant speed

___________________________________________________________________________________
.

(b) What is the distance travelled by the object after 4 s? _____________

zom

3
 (c) What is the speed of the object?
s =

E s=
5m/S#
s =
E
Q2: The distance-time graph below shows the motion of a car.

250

200
200
-
80
-
distance/m

150 120

100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time/s

(a) How far did the car travel between the 20th and 50th s? _____________________________
120m

(b) What is the speed of the car?

4m
s
= =
=

Q3: The distance-time graph below shows the motion of plane.

50
45
40
35
distance / m

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time/s

(a) Describe the motion of the plane.

The plane is
moving with
increasing speed
__________________________________________________________________________________
.

(b) What is the average speed of the plane from 0 to 10 s?

ay speed
:
=

#
= 4 5 MIS#
4 .
The distance travelled by an object can be obtained from a speed-time
graph by calculating the area under the graph.
Q4: The motion of a ball rolling on the floor can be represented by the speed-time graph below.
6

4
speed / m/s

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time/s

(a) Describe the motion of the ball.

The ball is moving with constant speed and no acceleration

________________________________________________________________________________ .

(b) What is the speed of the ball at (i) 20 s and (ii) 40 s?

5
m/S

(c) What is the distance travelled by the ball in 50 s?

1 = sxt =
250M

= 5x50

(d) What is the acceleration of the ball?

Omis (no acceleration)

I

5
Q5: The speed-time graph below shows how the speed of a stone that is dropped from a height varies with time.
60 to 80
60

50

40
speed / m/s

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 78
-10
Time/s
(a) Describe the motion of the stone.

The stone is
increasing speed with
___________________________________________________________________________________________
moving at an

constant acceleration.
(b) What is the acceleration of the stone?
constant

(c) The stone reaches the ground after 5 s. How far did the stone travel before it reaches the ground?

d = St

= 50(5)
= 250 m
Q6: The speed-time graph below represents the motion of a racing car.
20
18
16
14
speed / m/s

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time/s
(a) Describe the motion of the car.

The
moving with speed at a
_________________________________________________________________________________________
car is
increasing
constant acceleration.
th
(b) What is the speed of the racing car at the 8 second?

15m/S
#
6
 (c) What is the acceleration of the car?

constanty

(d) What is the distance travelled by the car in 10 s? 100

d =

50 mis - 55 10

S 10 MX
x - 10 =

500
=
5x
x= 100 mis

(e) What is the distance travelled by the car from 4th to 8th second?
40 m/s
40(4) 45 :

d = St d =

= 160m S T
x

4x = 320
(f) What is the average speed of the car?
x = 80
a
speed
d = 50 (5)
[
z0
T = 255

5
= 50m/S - =