Speed–time graphs 8.

3
8.3
2 A family set out on a long car journey to reach a holiday destination. A speed–time
graph of their motion is shown below. They drive for a certain time on freeways
before having a break for a meal, then drive a further distance through a major city
Science inquiry before reaching their accommodation.
Visual/Spatial Logical/Mathematical 100
1 The table shows the instantaneous speed recorded from the speedometer in a car at
every minute of a 15-minute journey. 90

Time
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
(min) 80

Speed
0 22 47 50 50 50 35 11 29 60 32 3 0 0 25 60
(km/h) 70

(a) Use this data to construct a speed–time graph of the car’s motion on the axes
60
below.

Speed (km/h)
60
60 50
55
55
40
50
50
45 30
45
ing up

40
40 20
Slow
(km/h)
(km/h)

35
Speed

35
in

g up
10
Slowing
g dow
Speed

30
30
g up
Speed

Speedin
n
in

25
25 0
down
Speed

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
20
20 Time (h)

15
15
(a) Describe the family’s motion:
They accelerate over the first hour to reach 100 km/h. They then
10
10
(i) 1–4 hours into the trip travel at a constant speed of 100 km/h for the next 3 hours.
55
They slow down and stop.
(ii) 4–4.5 hours into the trip
00
00 11 22 3
3 44 55 66 77 8 8 9 9 10 1011 1112 1213 13
14 15
14 15
Time (min)
They have stopped for a meal.
(iii) 4.5–6 hours into the trip
Time (mins)
(b) (i) Using a red pen, identify on your graph when the car was speeding up. They start moving again and increase their speed to 50 km/h.
(iv) 6–6.5 hours into the trip
(ii) Using a blue pen, identify on your graph when the car was slowing down.
(v) 6.5–7.5 hours into the trip
T hey travel for an hour at a constant 50 km/h, and then slow
(c) (i) At one stage of the journey, the driver slowed down and turned a corner. down to a stop.
(b) Recalling that the distance travelled is equivalent to the area below the speed–
Propose how many minutes into the trip this occurred.
time graph for the journey, calculate the distance the family travelled to reach
7 minutes into the journey their holiday destination.

(ii) At another stage of the journey, the driver stopped at a set of traffic lights. Area below speed–time graph = (½ × 1 × 100) + (3 × 100) +
Propose how many minutes into the trip this occurred. (½ × 0.5 × 100) + (½ × 0.5 × 50) + (1 × 50) + (½ × 0.5 × 50)
12 minutes into the trip = 50 + 300 + 25 + 12.5 + 50 + 12.5
= 450 km

100 PEARSON science 10 101