Calculating displacement from velocity-time graph

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 7K views
Letsgo99
Messages
1
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


Basically they want me to find the displacement for the entire time interval on this graph.
The graph is in the attachment.



Homework Equations


Displacement is equal to the area under the graph. In this case d=LxW+(BxH)/2+(BxH)/2


The Attempt at a Solution


My attempted solution is included in the graph. I understand how to do these, my only problem is that I'm not sure what to do with the negative velocity. All the examples in my textbook only deal with positive velocity on problems like this one. I have the area of figure 3 but I'm not sure if I have to include the entire area under the line in figure 1 or just the positive part. With figure two I'm also not sure what to do.
 

Attachments

  • scan0001.jpg
    scan0001.jpg
    42.5 KB · Views: 558
Physics news on Phys.org
The areas you need lie in between the velocity curve and the x-axis. The only area you have drawn in your attachment that doesn't need rethinking is area #3. For a negative velocity you just subtract that area from the area you calculate for the positive velocity.