Question

physical science: graphing motion
directions: make a graph from the information below and answer questions about the motion of the object.
data for the position of a battery powered toy car is shown below.

1. graph the data on the graph below.

• be sure to determine the approximate scale for each
• be sure to label your axes and put a title on the graph.

1. what is the average speed of the car from 0 to 3 seconds?

looking for
given
x₁=
x₂=
y₁=
y₂=
formula
m = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁)
math
solution

Explanation:

Step1: Identify given values

From the data, at \( t = 0 \) ( \( x_1 = 0 \) s), position \( y_1 = 0 \) m. At \( t = 3 \) ( \( x_2 = 3 \) s), position \( y_2 = 1.5 \) m.

Step2: Apply the formula

The formula for slope (which represents speed here) is \( m=\frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1} \). Substitute \( x_1 = 0 \), \( y_1 = 0 \), \( x_2 = 3 \), \( y_2 = 1.5 \):
\( m=\frac{1.5 - 0}{3 - 0}=\frac{1.5}{3}=0.5 \) m/s.

Answer:

The average speed of the car from 0 to 3 seconds is \( 0.5 \) m/s.