What is Position Vs Time Graph β Definition, Example Diagrams β Etutor
12 Sep 2023
Position with respect to time is a graph that shows how an object moves over time. The slope of the position vs. time graph indicates the objectβs speed at a particular time.
A position vs. time graph shows how fast something is moving by how steep its slope is. So, the slope shows how fast an object is moving at a certain point in time. Donβt forget that speed is a vector number. It means it is big and going somewhere. Another word for how fast something is going is βspeed.β Since only straight-line movement is involved, there are only two directions to deal with: forward and backward. If the velocity is greater than zero, the object is moving forward. Objects move in the opposite direction if the speed is negative.
When graphs are made in the XY plane, the independent variable is usually on the horizontal axis and the dependent variable is on the vertical axis.
In a Position-Time graph, time is the independent variable, and the movement of the object is the dependent variable, which depends on time. The vertical axis shows where the object is, and the horizontal axis shows how long it has been there.
So, the slope of a Position vs. Time graph shows how the position has changed over time, which is also called velocity. So, the slope of a graph of position versus time shows how fast something is moving.
In this situation, the slope of the line drawn from any point on the curve to the curve gives the speed of the object at any given time.
So, itβs clear that the shape of the line on the position-time graph shows different things about how the object is moving (straight, curved, steeply sloped, gently sloped, etc.).