Question

What conclusion can you draw about the velocity of a body from the displacement-time graph shown below?

Answer 1

Let us remember what values can be found out using displacement of a particle and time taken. Velocity can be found out using the displacement and time. We know what velocity can be found out when we divide the values of displacement and time.

Formulas used:
The value of velocity can be found using the formula,
$v = \dfrac{\text{displacement}}{\text{time}}$
The slope of a graph can be found out using the formula,
$\text{slope} = \dfrac{y}{x}$

Complete step by step answer:
Information can be found from a graph in mainly two ways. One is by finding the slope of the graph and the other or second is by finding the area under the graph. The slope of a graph can be found out using the formula,
$\text{slope} = \dfrac{y}{x}$
The area of the graph looks like a right triangle and we can find its area by the formula,
$A = \dfrac{1}{2}bh$
Where, $b$ is the base of the triangle and $h$ is the height of the triangle.

The value that we get in finding the area under the graph doesn't give us velocity, whereas the slope gives us velocity.The graph is a straight line which says that the slope is constant, meaning the velocity with which the object is moving is constant or uniform.

Therefore, the slope of the graph gives us an idea about velocity and since the slope of the graph is a straight line, the velocity with which the body is moving will be uniform.

Note: The graph is a powerful tool for a physicist. The graphs give us information about various things we have to look for. The displacement time graph is an important tool in one dimensional motion as it gives us an idea about the velocity and motion of the body.