Example: Using the gradient or slope of a distance - time graph to work out the speed of an object. Calculate the speed of the object represented by the green line in the graph below, from 0 to 3 s.

The gradient of a distance-time graph represents speed. When displaying a journey, the vertical axis will often represent the distance from a particular place rather than the distance travelled.

With this distance and time value, I can simply plug it into the kinematic equation and solve for the acceleration. This would give an acceleration of 0.1053 m/s 2 .