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Displacement–time graphs

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Acceleration – a change in velocity

Velocity changes when there is a change in its magnitude (i.e. a change in speed), a change in its direction, or both.So acceleration can include:

speeding up

slowing down (deceleration)

changing direction (e.g. centripetal acceleration)

So even though a geostationary satellite is travelling in a circle at a steady speed, it is actually accelerating as it constantly changes direction!

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Velocity–time graphs

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Four “suvat” equations

Motion under constant acceleration can be described using the following four equations:

1. v = u + at

2. s = ut + ½at2

3. v2 = u2 + 2as

4. s = ½(u + v)t

These are known as the “suvat” or constant acceleration equations, where u is the initial velocity, a is the acceleration, and s and v are the displacement and velocity at time t. How can these equations be derived?

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Using the suvat equations

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Analysing a velocity–time graph

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