Question

An object travels along a straight line across a horizontal surface, and its motion is described by the velocity versus time graph. Which of the following methods will determine the total displacement of the object between 0 s and 5 s? Select two answers. A.)Finding the slope of the line between 0 s to 5 s B.)Dividing the change in velocity between 0 s to 5 s by the change in time C.)Finding the area bound by the horizontal axis and the curve from 0 s to 5 s D.)Using Average Speed = total distance/total and multiplying the average speed of 5m/s by a total time of 5 s

Answer 1

Answer:

C.)Finding the area bound by the horizontal axis and the curve from 0 s to 5 s

D.)Using Average Speed = total distance/total and multiplying the average speed of 5m/s by a total time of 5 s

Explanation:

The graph seems to be missing, however we can still answer the question.

In fact, we have to keep in mind the following facts:

- In a velocity-time graph, the area under the curve represents the displacement of the object, while the slope of the curve corresponds to its acceleration.

From this, we can already say that the following option:

C.)Finding the area bound by the horizontal axis and the curve from 0 s to 5 s

is correct, while the statement

A.)Finding the slope of the line between 0 s to 5 s

is wrong.

Moreover, the average speed of an object in motion is given by

$v=\frac{d}{t}$

where d is the total distance covered while t is the total time taken. Once we have calculated the average speed, the total displacement over a certain time period can be simply calculated by multiplying the average speed by the time interval: so, the option

D.)Using Average Speed = total distance/total and multiplying the average speed of 5m/s by a total time of 5 s

is also correct.

The last option remained:

B.)Dividing the change in velocity between 0 s to 5 s by the change in time

is wrong, because in this way we are calculating the acceleration, not the displacement.