Distance, speed

and acceleration
GCSE Additional Science

Physics 2
Chapter 15
 Distance, speed and acceleration
Speed = distance (metres) S
V×
time (seconds)
t

Click here for the

GCSE Additional Science

1) Aled walks 200m in 40s. What is his speed? answers

2) Lowri travels 2km in 1000s. What is her speed? 1) 5m/s

3) How long would it take for Dafydd to run 100m if he 2) 2m/s
runs at a speed of 10m/s?
3) 10s
4) Heledd travels at a speed of 50m/s for 20s. How
far does she travel? 4) 1000m/s
Chapter 15

5) A car travels at a speed of 85 mph (about 40m/s). 5) 500s

How long would it take for him to travel 20km?
 Distance-Time Graphs
4) Straight line at a
2) Straight horizontal line = downwards angle =
40
Motionless Constant speed in
reverse
30
Distance (metres)
GCSE Additional Science

20

10

0 Time/s
Chapter 15

20 40 60 80 100
1) Straight line at an upwards 3) Straight line at a greater angle
angle = upwards =
Constant speed forwards (high)
Constant speed forwards (low)
 40

30
Distance (m)

20

10
GCSE Additional Science

0
20 40 60 80 100 Time (s)
Click here for the
1) What is the speed during the first 20s?
answers
2) How far is the object from the start after 60 1) 0.5m/s
Chapter 15

seconds?
2) 40m
3) What is the speed during the last 40s?
3) 2m/s in reverse
4) When was the object travelling at its fastest?
4) 40 – 60s
 Speed v Velocity
Simply, speed is the distance travelled per second …

This car’s speed is 20m/s

GCSE Additional Science

Velocity is the distance travelled per second in a specific direction …..

Chapter 15

Speed of 20m/s to the right

 Acceleration
acceleration (m/s2) = change in velocity (m/s)
time (s) V-U
a×t

1) A biker speeds up from 0 to 10m/s in 5 s.

GCSE Additional Science

What is the acceleration?

2) A ball is dropped with an acceleration of
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10m/s2 for 12s. By how much will the answers
velocity of the ball change? 1) 2m/s2
3) A car speeds up from 10 to 20m/s with 2) 120m/s
Chapter 15

an acceleration of 2m/s2. How much

3) 5s
time did this change take?
4) 2000m/s2
4) A rocket speeds up from 1 000m/s to 5
000m/s in 2s. What is its velocity?
 Velocity-Time Graphs
1) Line at an upwards
angle = Constant
80 4) Line at a downwards
acceleration angle =
60 Constant deceleration
velocity (m/s)
GCSE Additional Science

40

20

0 t(s)
Chapter 15

10 20 30 40 50
2) Horizontal line = 3) Line at an upwards angle =
Constant velocity Constant acceleration (lower)
 Calculating the Distance
80

60
Velocity (m/s)

40
GCSE Additional Science

20
t/s
0
10 20 30 40 50
Chapter 15

To calculate the total distance of the journey,

you must calculate the area under the graph.
 80

Velocity (m/s) 60

40

20
GCSE Additional Science

t/s
0
10 20 30 40 50
1) What is the velocity after 10s? Click here for the answers

2) What is the acceleration between 20 a 30s?

1) 40m/s
Chapter 15

3) What is the deceleration between 30 and 2) 2m/s2

50s?
3) 3m/s2
4) What was the distance of the journey?
4) 1700m