Question

Using the following data draw the time-displacement graph for a moving object:

Time (s)	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16
Displacement (m)	0	2	4	4	4	6	4	2	0

Use this graph to find the average velocity for first $4s$ for next $4s$ and for last $6s$.

Answer 1

Step 1: Given diagram

Step 2: Formula used

Average velocity can be defined as,

Average velocity, $v_{avg}=\frac{∆x}{t}$

where, $∆x$ is the change in displacement and $t$ is the total time taken.

Step 3: Calculation of average velocity

From the graph,

For the first $4s$,

Average velocity, $v_{avg}=\frac{∆x}{t}=\frac{4-0}{4-0}=\frac{4}{4}=1m{s}^{-1}$

Hence, the average velocity is $1m{s}^{-1}$.

For the next $4s$,

Average velocity, $v_{avg}=\frac{∆x}{t}=\frac{4-4}{4-8}=\frac{0}{4}=0m{s}^{-1}$

Hence, the average velocity is $0m{s}^{-1}$.

For the last $6s$,

Average velocity, $v_{avg}=\frac{∆x}{t}=\frac{0-6}{16-10}=\frac{-6}{6}=-1m{s}^{-1}$

Hence, the average velocity is $-1m{s}^{-1}$.