Moving Man

The difference between distance is that it doesn't have a magnitude of distance from an object i.e. 8 meter. Displacement is the magnitude of distance from the object or the distance and direction i.e. 8 meters to the west i.e. -8 meters (- means behind)

What is the difference between an object’s SPEED and its VELOCITY?
The difference is that Speed is the distance traveled and the amount of time it took to get to point b from point a. Velocity is the distance from the object changing and the amount of time changing while the object is going to b from a.


A) The unit of distance in the moving man is meters
B) The unit of time used in the moving man is seconds
C) Set the moving man’s velocity (≈ speed) at 1 meters/sec and hit go. Watch the moving man.
D) Set the moving man’s velocity (≈ speed) at 4 meters/sec and hit go. Watch the moving man.
E) At which of the two velocities did he move faster? He moved faster at 4 meters
F) Set the moving man’s velocity (≈ speed) at 1meters/sec. Before hitting go, locate the clock again. You are going to let the moving man go for 2 seconds and then hit pause. Now hit go. If he goes more than 2 seconds, simply grab the blue bar and back it up until the clock says 2 seconds. Record the distance covered in the table below.
G) Repeat Step (F) above but set the velocity (≈ speed) at 4 meters/sec. Again let him go for 2 seconds only.


SPEED TIME DISTANCE COVERED
TRIAL #1 1 meter/sec (slower) 2 seconds
2 meters
TRIAL #2 4 meter/sec (faster) 2 seconds 8.17 meters

1. In both of the above trials you gave the man 2 seconds to run. At what velocity did he cover more distance?
He traveled faster at 4 meter/sec.

2. Speed is calculated by comparing (dividing) the distance with the time. Divide the distance by the time for each trial above. Write the speeds below
TRIAL #2 4 meters divided by 2 sec = 2 m/sec


TRIAL#1 1 meters divided by 2 sec = .5 m/sec

PART C: GRAPHING SPEED
1.Making observations.
A) Explore: By either clicking on the man or the slider, cause the man to move back and forth and
observe what shows
B) Record: Using the axis provided below make sketches of “Distance vs. Time” and “Velocity vs. Time” graphs for the actions described on the left side of each axis.




Apply what you learned.
Look at the graphs above and answer the following questions.
1) EXPLAIN the difference in motion represented by a straight line and a curving line on a “distance vs. time” in terms of constant or changing speed.
1A: A straight line is a person moving but at a constant rate of speed. A curving line is a person moving but his speed is changing at certain points in time.

2) Changing speed is called “acceleration” (speeding up) or deceleration (slowing down). Describe the shape of an acceleration line on a Distance vs. Time graph of acceleration.
2A: The shape of an acceleration line would be a line slowly going upward because the more you accelerate the faster you go and the more ground you cover.

3) EXPLAIN the difference between the motion represented by a flat line and a sloping straight line in a “distance vs. time” graph.
3A: A flat line is a constant speed and ground coverage, but a sloping means either a acceleration of ground coverage or deceleration of ground coverage

4) If the slope of a line on a “distance vs. time” graph is steep. What is different about the motion then when it is not steep?
4A: If the line was not steep the distance covered would slowly increase if it was steep though the distance covered would be great in a short amount of time.

5) Look at the graph below and answer the following questions.
A) CALCULATE the average speed/velocity between point B & Point C by finding the slope of the line between the 6th and 15th seconds (show work below)
A’s Answer:

B) Why is the line sloping upward to the right between the 2nd & 3rd second, but downward to the right between 6th and the 15th seconds?
B’s Answer: It is sloping upward because the distance being covered has increased greatly suddenly, but when slowing down or sloping downward the ground being covered is slowly decreasing

C) During what two times did he stop moving?
C’s Answer: He was not moving at the start and the 15 second mark