A student says: 'A negative slope on a position-time graph means the object is slowing down.' What…

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Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.

A student says: 'A negative slope on a position-time graph means the object is slowing down.' What is wrong? A line on such a graph goes from $40\ \text{m}$ at $0\ \text{s}$ to $10\ \text{m}$ at $10\ \text{s}$ . What velocity does it show?

Need a reminder? The key ideaShow

On a distance-time (or position-time) graph the slope is the velocity. On a velocity-time graph the slope is the acceleration and the area under the line is the distance.

The worked solution

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Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.

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