Converting Velocity-Time Graphs Into Acceleration Graphs

Click For Summary
To convert velocity-time graphs into acceleration-time graphs, one must calculate the slope of the velocity graph for each interval, as acceleration is defined as the change in velocity over time. The area under the velocity graph represents distance, not acceleration, which can lead to confusion. The resulting acceleration graph will depend on the slope of the velocity graph; a positive slope indicates positive acceleration, a negative slope indicates negative acceleration, and a constant slope results in a horizontal line. For graphs transitioning from positive to negative values, the slopes will change accordingly, reflecting the shifts in acceleration. Understanding these relationships is crucial for accurately drawing the acceleration graph from the given velocity graph.
j1249
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
I am completely lost on how to convert velocity time graphs into acceleration time graphs.
so far all i no is to break the velocity graph into sections/intervals and find the area. the answer i get for the area is the scale on my y-axis of my acceleration graph. but what i do not no is what kind of line would it be on the acceleration graph (like would my line be straight and positive or straight and negative or would it be just a horizontal line) and how to determine that? Also how do i convert graphs that go from a positive scale to a negative scale in one graph? any help would greatly be appreciated! Thank you!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
j1249 said:
I am completely lost on how to convert velocity time graphs into acceleration time graphs.
so far all i no is to break the velocity graph into sections/intervals and find the area. the answer i get for the area is the scale on my y-axis of my acceleration graph. but what i do not no is what kind of line would it be on the acceleration graph (like would my line be straight and positive or straight and negative or would it be just a horizontal line) and how to determine that? Also how do i convert graphs that go from a positive scale to a negative scale in one graph? any help would greatly be appreciated! Thank you!

This may be your problem.

The areas under your Velocity-time graph are what? Like what are the units? i.e. what are the units of V*t?

What is the definition of acceleration?
 
well the units of my v-t graph is m/s for velocity and s for time. as for the definition i do not no what you are asking. in my question it only asks me to determine the acceleration for each interval. then draw an a-t graph. so for my first interval i found the area by doing bh/2 so (2)(4)/2 and got 4m [forward]
 
j1249 said:
well the units of my v-t graph is m/s for velocity and s for time. as for the definition i do not no what you are asking. in my question it only asks me to determine the acceleration for each interval. then draw an a-t graph. so for my first interval i found the area by doing bh/2 so (2)(4)/2 and got 4m [forward]

The area under a v-t graph is unfortunately distance.

Velocity times time is just that - distance, expressed graphically as an area. Because that is the dimension (m/s)*s = just m.

So if velocity is change in position divided by the change in time, what is acceleration?
 
change in velocity divided by the change in time??

right...? lol
 
So what might be a better way to treat the graph of velocity-time to come up with the graph of acceleration versus time?
 

Thread 'Magnitude of buoyant force in fluids of different densities'

The book claims the answer is that all the magnitudes are the same because "the gravitational force on the penguin is the same". I'm having trouble understanding this. I thought the buoyant force was equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. Weight depends on mass which depends on density. Therefore, due to the differing densities the buoyant force will be different in each case? Is this incorrect?
View full post »

Similar threads

Why would this be accelerating positively?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
1K
Inconsistency in a Velocity-Time Graph
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
Graphs of RC Circuit Responses
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
Finding the change in velocity from an acceleration vs time graph
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Finding acceleration from Velocity vs Position graph
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
4K
Distance Velocity Graph: What Does the Area Represent?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Difficulty Understanding 'Drag Crisis' (transitionary period from laminar to turbulent flow)
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Analyzing Motion: Deriving Displacement Graphs from First Principles
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Physics Graph Word Problem -- Motion of a person skiing down a slope
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
Graphs of s, v and a for a mass with a piece of paper attached
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
1K