About this lab

Set the start position, starting velocity and acceleration, and watch a cart move while position, velocity and acceleration graphs draw themselves in step.

Ideas covered: position, velocity, acceleration, slope of a graph, area under a graph.

Common questions

What does the slope of a position–time graph show?

The slope of a position–time graph at any moment is the velocity at that moment. A steeper line means a faster object; a downward slope means it is moving backwards.

What does the area under a velocity–time graph show?

The area between the velocity curve and the time axis is the displacement. Area above the axis counts as forward motion and area below it as backward motion.