top of page

PHYSICS

Unit 1: Motion - Distance, Speed and Acceleration Time graphs

Theme: Globalization and sustainability

SOI: Understanding motion and its relationships inspired mankind to create machines resulting in impact on the environment

KC: Relationship
RC: Consequences and Movement

The specific rules that applies to everything that exists

Graphs help visualize how fast an object is actually travelling. 

​

let me explain my understanding of it using this example. 

image_2021-02-25_213650.png

Falcon 9 launch

This launch happened last year when the Falcon 9 by SpaceX carried 2 astronauts from earth to the international space station.

​

​

What I have done is taken this video and use it as an experiment, to show you how we can understand distance, speed, and Acceleration using graphs. 

The Data 

We have Time (s & hr), distance (km), speed (kph),which I have noted down for every 10sec intervals and the calculated acceleration (speed2 - speed1)/(time2 - time1). 

image_2021-02-26_172036.png

The Graphs

First graph: This is the distance that the rocket travelled. 

image_2021-03-04_112623.png

Second graph: This is the speed graph, to show the speed at specific times of the journey. You can also see how the speed varies. At a certain point the rocket stabilizes its speed.  

image_2021-03-04_112800.png

Third graph: The acceleration graph to show you how the velocity changes throughout the journey.

Note that when the rocket slows down, the acceleration is actually negative.

 

image_2021-03-04_112856.png

So, the results show that the rocket travelled a total of 104 km in 180 seconds (3 minutes). The speed of the rocket was the highest at 160 seconds, coming close to 7000 kph. The acceleration, however, was highest at 140- 150 seconds, which shows that the rocket was slowing down before it reached its destination. We can also see that when the speed reduces, we see negative acceleration (deceleration).

bottom of page