and acceleration = velocity change ÷ time. To find the distance travelled, look at the area under the graph. In the first 10 seconds this is the area of the triangle, ½ × 10 s × 40 m/s = 200 m.

They are afraid to embrace the power of the graph ... to find the acceleration from this distance-time data. Let's go back to our kinematic equation (assuming we start with zero velocity).

Save guides, add subjects and pick up where you left off with your BBC account. The gradient of a velocity-time graph at a particular time gives the acceleration of the object at that time.

How do you integrate with a computer? Let's start with an example. Suppose a car travels only in the x-direction. It starts at x = 0 m with a velocity of 0 m/s. If the car has a constant ...