Speed

●​ The speed of an object is the distance it travels per unit time

●​ Speed is a scalar quantity
○​ This is because it only contains a magnitude (without a direction)
●​ For objects that are moving with a constant speed, use the equation below to
calculate the speed:

speed=Distance travelled/time taken

●​ Where:
○​ Speed is measured in metres per second (m/s)
○​ Distance travelled is measured in metres (m)
○​ Time taken is measured in seconds (s)

Different speeds

A hiker might have an average speed of 2.0 m/s, whereas a particularly excited bumble
bee can have average speeds of up to 4.5 m/s

Average Speed
●​ In some cases, the speed of a moving object is not constant
 ○​ For example, the object might be moving faster or slower at certain
moments in time (accelerating and decelerating)
●​ The equation for calculating the average speed of an object is:

Average speed=Distance travelled/time taken

●​ The formula for average speed (and the formula for speed) can be rearranged
with the help of the formula triangle below:

Average speed equation triangle

Average speed, total distance and time taken equation triangle

How to Use Formula Triangles

●​ Formula triangles are really useful for knowing how to rearrange physics
equations
●​ To use them:
1.​ Cover up the quantity to be calculated, this is known as the 'subject' of the
equation
2.​ Look at the position of the other two quantities
○​ If they are on the same line, this means they are multiplied
○​ If one quantity is above the other, this means they are divided - make sure
to keep the order of which is on the top and bottom of the fraction!
●​ In the example below, to calculate speed, cover-up 'speed' and only distance and
time are left
○​ This means it is equal to distance (on the top) ÷ time (on the bottom)
 Formula triangle example

How to use formula triangles

Worked example
Planes fly at typical speeds of around 250 m/s. Calculate the total distance travelled by
a plane moving at this average speed for 2 hours.

Answer:

Step 1: List the known quantities

●​ Average speed = 250 m/s

●​ Time taken = 2 hours

Step 2: Write the relevant equation

Average speed=Distance travelled/time taken

Step 3: Rearrange for the total distance

total distance = average speed × time taken

Step 4: Convert any units

●​ The time given in the question is not in standard units

●​ Convert 2 hours into seconds:

2 hours = 2 × 60 × 60 = 7200 s

Step 5: Substitute the values for average speed and time taken
 total distance = 250 × 7200 = 1 800 000 m

Velocity
●​ The velocity of a moving object is similar to its speed, except it also describes the
object’s direction
○​ The speed of an object only contains a magnitude - it’s a scalar quantity
●​ Velocity is therefore a vector quantity because it describes both magnitude and
direction
○​ e.g. ‘15 m/s south’ or ‘250 mph on a bearing of 030°’

Speed vs. velocity

Two objects can have the same speed but a different velocity

●​ This means velocity can also have a negative value

○​ E.g. a ball thrown upwards at a velocity of 3 m/s comes down at a velocity
–5 m/s, if upwards is considered positive
○​ However, their speeds are still 3 m/s and 5 m/s respectively
●​ The equation for velocity is very similar to the equation for speed:

Velocity = Displacement/Time

Where:

○​ v = velocity in metres per second (m/s)

○​ s = displacement, measured in metres (m)
○​ t = time, measured in seconds (s)
●​ Velocity is a vector quantity, so it uses displacement, s, rather than distance
which is scalar.
 Acceleration
●​ Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity
○​ In other words, it describes how much an object's velocity changes every
second
●​ The equation below is used to calculate the average acceleration of an object:

Acceleration = change in velocity/ change in time

a = v/t

●​ Where:
○​ a = acceleration in metres per second squared (m/s2)
○​ Δv = change in velocity in metres per second (m/s)
○​ Δt = time taken in seconds (s)
●​ The change in velocity is found by the difference between the initial and final
velocity, as written below:

change in velocity = final velocity − initial velocity

V = v-u

●​ Where:
○​ v = final velocity in metres per second (m/s)
○​ u = initial velocity in metres per second (m/s)
●​ The equation for acceleration can be rearranged with the help of a formula
triangle as shown:

Acceleration equation triangle

 Equation triangle for the change in velocity, acceleration, and change in time

Speeding Up & Slowing Down

●​ An object that speeds up is accelerating
●​ An object that slows down is decelerating
●​ The acceleration of an object can be positive or negative, depending on whether
the object is speeding up or slowing down
○​ If an object is speeding up, its acceleration is positive
○​ If an object is slowing down, its acceleration is negative (sometimes called
deceleration)
 Acceleration and deceleration

A rocket speeding up (accelerating) and a car slowing down (decelerating)

Worked example
A Japanese bullet train decelerates at a constant rate in a straight line. The velocity of
the train decreases from 50 m/s to 42 m/s in 30 seconds.

(a) Calculate the change in velocity of the train.

(b) Calculate the deceleration of the train, and explain how your answer shows the train
is slowing down.

Answer:

Part (a)

Step 1: List the known quantities

●​ Initial velocity = 50 m/s

 ●​ Final velocity = 42 m/s

Step 2: Write the relevant equation

change in velocity = final velocity − initial velocity

Step 3: Substitute values for final and initial velocity

change in velocity = 42 − 50 = −8 m/s

Part (b)

Step 1: List the known quantities

●​ Change in velocity, Δv = − 8 m/s

●​ Time taken, t = 30 s

Step 2: Write the relevant equation

a=v/t

Step 3: Substitute the values for change in velocity and time

a = −8 ÷ 30 = −0.27 m/s

Step 4: Interpret the value for deceleration

○​ The answer is negative, which indicates the train is slowing down

Distance-Time Graphs
●​ A distance-time graph shows how the distance of an object moving in a straight
line (from a starting position) varies over time:
 Distance-time graph

This graph shows a moving object moving further away from its origin

Constant Speed on a Distance-Time Graph

●​ Distance-time graphs also show the following information:
○​ If the object is moving at a constant speed
○​ How large or small the speed is
●​ A straight line represents constant speed
●​ The slope of the straight line represents the magnitude of the speed:
○​ A very steep slope means the object is moving at a large speed
○​ A shallow slope means the object is moving at a small speed
○​ A flat, horizontalline means the object is stationary (not moving)

Faster and slower speed on a distance-time graph

 This graph shows how the slope of a line is used to interpret the speed of moving
objects. Both of these objects are moving with a constant speed, because the lines are
straight.

Changing Speed on a Distance-Time Graph

●​ Objects might be moving at a changing speed
○​ This is represented by a curve
●​ In this case, the slope of the line will be changing
○​ If the slope is increasing, the speed is increasing (accelerating)
○​ If the slope is decreasing, the speed is decreasing (decelerating)
●​ The image below shows two different objects moving with changing speeds

Acceleration and deceleration on a distance-time graph

Changing speeds are represented by changing slopes. The red line represents an
object slowing down and the green line represents an object speeding up.

Using Distance-Time Graphs

●​ The speed of a moving object can be calculated from the gradient of the line on a
distance-time graph:

Speed = gradient = y / x

Gradient of a distance-time graph

The speed of an object can be found by calculating the gradient of a distance-time
graph

●​ y is the change in y (distance) values

●​ x is the change in x (time) values
Worked example
A distance-time graph is drawn below for part of a train journey. The train is travelling at
a constant speed.

Calculate the speed of the train.

Answer:

Step 1: Draw a large gradient triangle on the graph

●​ The image below shows a large gradient triangle drawn with dashed lines
●​ y and x are labelled, using the units as stated on each axes
Step 2: Convert units for distance and time into standard units

●​ The distance travelled = 8 km = 8000 m

●​ The time taken = 6 mins = 360 s

Step 3: State that speed is equal to the gradient of a distance-time graph

●​ The gradient of a distance-time graph is equal to the speed of a moving object:

Step 4: Substitute values in to calculate the speed

Speed = gradient = y / x

Speed=8000/360

Speed = 22.2 m/s

Worked example
Ose decides to take a stroll to the park. He finds a bench in a quiet spot and takes a
seat, picking up where he left off reading his book on Black Holes. After some time
reading, Ose realises he lost track of time and runs home.

A distance-time graph for his trip is drawn below.

a)
How long does Ose spend reading his book?
b)
There are three sections labelled on the graph, A, B and C. Which section
represents Ose running home?
c)
What is the total distance travelled by Ose?
d

Answer:

Part (a)

●​ Ose spends 40 minutes reading his book

 ●​ The flat section of the line (section B) represents an object which is stationary -
so section B represents Ose sitting on the bench reading
●​ This section lasts for 40 minutes - as shown in the graph below

Part (b)

●​ Section C represents Ose running home

●​ The slope of the line in section C is steeper than the slope in section A
●​ This means Ose was moving with a larger speed (running) in section C

Part (c)

●​ The total distance travelled by Ose is 0.6 km

●​ The total distance travelled by an object is given by the final point on the line - in
this case, the line ends at 0.6 km on the distance axis. This is shown in the
image below:
 Speed-Time Graphs
●​ A speed-time graph shows how the speed of a moving object varies with time
○​ The red line represents an object with increasing speed
○​ The green line represents an object with decreasing speed

Increasing and decreasing speed

Increasing and decreasing speed represented on a speed-time graph

Acceleration on a Speed-Time Graph

●​ Speed-time graphs also show the following information:
○​ If the object is moving with a constant acceleration or deceleration
○​ The magnitude of the acceleration or deceleration
●​ A straight line represents constant acceleration
●​ The slope of the line represents the magnitude of acceleration
○​ A steep slope means largeacceleration (or deceleration) - i.e. the object's
speed changes very quickly
○​ A gentle slope means smallacceleration (or deceleration) - i.e. the object's
speed changes very gradually
○​ A flat line means the acceleration is zero - i.e. the object is moving with a
constant speed
●​ Acceleration, deceleration and constant speed
​

This image shows how to interpret the slope of a speed-time graph

Using Speed-Time Graphs

●​ The distance travelled by an object can be found by determining the area
beneath the graph

Area under a velocity-time graph

 The distance travelled can be found from the area beneath the graph

●​ If the area beneath the graph forms a triangle (the object is accelerating or
decelerating) then the area can be determined using the formula:

Area = ½ * base * height

●​ If the area beneath the graph is a rectangle (constant velocity) then the area can
be determined using the formula:

Area = base * height

Worked example
The speed-time graph below shows a car journey which lasts for 160 seconds.
Calculate the total distance travelled by the car on this journey.

Answer:

Step 1: Recall that the area under a velocity-time graph represents the distance
travelled

●​ In order to calculate the total distance travelled, the total area underneath the line
must be determined

Step 2: Identify each enclosed area

●​ In this example, there are five enclosed areas under the line
●​ These can be labelled as areas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, as shown in the image below:
Step 3: Calculate the area of each enclosed shape under the line

●​ Area 1 = area of a triangle = ½ × base × height = ½ × 40 × 17.5 = 350 m

●​ Area 2 = area of a rectangle = base × height = 30 × 17.5 = 525 m
●​ Area 3 = area of a triangle = ½ × base × height = ½ × 20 × 7.5 = 75 m
●​ Area 4 = area of a rectangle = base × height = 20 × 17.5 = 350 m
●​ Area 5 = area of a triangle = ½ × base × height = ½ × 70 × 25 = 875 m

Step 4: Calculate the total distance travelled by finding the total area under the line

●​ Add up each of the five areas enclosed:

total distance = 350 + 525 + 75 + 350 + 875

total distance = 2175 m

Interpreting Speed-Time graphs

●​ If there is a change in an object's speed, then it is accelerating
●​ An object may accelerate at a steady rate, this is called constant acceleration
○​ On a speed-time graph this will be a non-horizontal straight line

Constant acceleration
●​ An object may accelerate at an increasing rate
○​ On a speed-time graph this would be an upward curve

Increasing acceleration
●​ An object may accelerate at a decreasing rate
○​ On a speed-time graph this would be an upward curve with a decreasing
gradient​
●​ An object is said to decelerate if its speed is decreasing over time, i.e. its
acceleration is negative
○​ On a speed-time graph this would be a downward line
■​ If the line is a non-horizontal straight line, deceleration is constant
■​ If the line is a curve with an increasing gradient, deceleration is
increasing
■​ If the line is a curve with a decreasing gradient, deceleration is
decreasing

Calculating Acceleration
●​ The acceleration of an object can be calculated from the gradient of a speed-time
graph

Acceleration = Gradient = rise/run

Gradient of a speed-time graph

 How to find the gradient of a speed-time graph

Worked example
Tora is training for a cycling tournament.

The speed-time graph below shows her motion as she cycles along a flat, straight road.
(a) In which section (A, B, C, D, or E) of the speed-time graph is Tora’s acceleration the
largest?

(b) Calculate Tora’s acceleration between 5 and 10 seconds.

Part (a)

Step 1:Recall that the slope of a speed-time graph represents the magnitude of
acceleration

●​ The slope of a speed-time graph indicates the magnitude of acceleration​

Therefore, the only sections of the graph where Tora is accelerating is section B
and section D
●​ Sections A, C, and E are flat – in other words, Tora is moving at a constant speed
(i.e. not accelerating)

Step 2: Identify the section with the steepest slope

●​ Section D of the graph has the steepest slope​

Hence, the largest acceleration is shown in section D
 Part (b)

Step 1: Recall that the gradient of a speed-time graph gives the acceleration

●​ Calculating the gradient of a slope on a speed-time graph gives the acceleration

for that time period

Step 2: Draw a large gradient triangle at the appropriate section of the graph

●​ A gradient triangle is drawn for the time period between 5 and 10 seconds below:

Step 3: Calculate the size of the gradient and state this as the acceleration

●​ The acceleration is given by the gradient, which can be calculated using:

acceleration = gradient = 5 ÷ 5 = 1 m/s2

●​ Therefore, Tora accelerated at 1 m/s2 between 5 and 10 seconds

 Acceleration of Free Fall
●​ In the absence of air resistance, all objects fall with the same acceleration
●​ This is called the acceleration of freefall (this is also sometimes called
acceleration due to gravity)

acceleration of free fall = g = 9.81 m/s2

Galileo's free fall experiment

In the absence of air resistance, Galileo discovered that all objects (near Earth's
surface) fall with an acceleration of about 9.8 m/s2

●​ This means that for every second an object falls, its velocity will increase by 9.8
m/s
●​ The symbol g also stands for the gravitational field strength, and can be used to
calculate the weight of an object using its mass:

weight = mass × gravitational field strength

 W = mg

Terminal Velocity
Falling Objects without Air Resistance
●​ In the absence of air resistance, all objects falling in a uniform gravitational field,
fall with the same acceleration, regardless of their mass
●​ So long as air resistance remains insignificant, the speed of a falling object will
increase at a steady rate, getting larger the longer it falls for.

Free fall with constant acceleration

In the absence of air resistance objects fall with constant acceleration

Falling Objects with Air Resistance

●​ Objects falling through fluids (fluids are liquids or gases) in a uniform gravitational
field, experience two forces:
○​ Weight (due to gravity)
 ○​ Friction (such as air resistance)
●​ A skydiver jumping from a plane will experience:
○​ A downward acting force of weight (mass × acceleration of freefall)
○​ An upward acting force of air resistance (frictional forces always oppose
the direction of motion)
●​ The force of air resistance increases with speed. This is illustrated in the image
below:

Change in resultant force on a skydiver

Debbie initially accelerates downwards due to her weight. The upwards air resistance
increases as she falls until it eventually grows big enough to balance the weight force

●​ Initially, the upwards air resistance is very small because the skydiver isn't falling
very quickly
○​ Therefore, there are unbalanced forces on the skydiver initially
●​ As the skydiver speeds up, air resistance increases, eventually growing large
enough to balance the downwards weight force
●​ Once air resistance equals weight, the forces are balanced
○​ This means there is no longer any resultant force
●​ Therefore, the skydiver's acceleration is zero - they now travel at a constant
speed
●​ This speed is called their terminal velocity
●​ When the skydiver opens the parachute, the air resistance increases
○​ This is due to the increased surface area of the parachute opening
●​ The upward force of air resistance on the skydiver increases, slowing the
acceleration of the skydivers fall
○​ The skydiver decelerates
●​ Eventually, the forces balance out again, and a new slower terminal velocity is
reached

Speed-time graph for a skydiver

Graph showing how the velocity of a skydiver changes during the descent
Worked example
A small object falls out of an aircraft. Choose words from the list to complete the
sentences below:

Friction Gravitational field strength Air pressure

Accelerates Falls at a steady speed Slows down

(a) The weight of an object is the product of the object's mass and the __________.

(b) When an object falls, initially it ____________.

(c) As the object falls faster, the force of ______________ acting upon the object
increases.

(d) Eventually the object ______________ when the force of friction equals the force of
weight acting on it.

Answer:

Part (a)

●​ The weight of an object is the product of the object's mass and the gravitational
field strength.
○​ The weight force is due to the Earth's gravitational pull on the object's
mass as it falls through a uniform gravitational field

Part (b)

●​ When an object falls, initially it accelerates

●​ The resultant force on the object is very large initially, so it accelerates
●​ This is because there is a large unbalanced force downwards (its weight) - the
upward force of air resistance is very small to begin with

Part (c)

●​ As the object falls faster, the force of friction acting upon the object increases.
●​ The force of air resistance is due to friction between the object's motion and
collisions with air particles
 ●​ Collisions with air particles slow the object down, so air itself produces a frictional
force, called air resistance (sometimes called drag)

Part (d)

●​ Eventually the object falls at a steady speed when the force of friction equals the
force of weight acting on it.
●​ When the upwards air resistance increases enough to balance the downwards
weight force, the resultant force on the object is zero
●​ This means the object isn't accelerating - rather, it is moving at a steady
(terminal) speed