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Mistake Master · AP Precalculus · Unit 4 · Step-Through Animation

Two Rates, and the Slope They Make Together

You'll learnto tell the two motion rates apart from the slope of the path.

A point on a path has two speeds at once: how fast x changes with the clock, and how fast y changes with it. Divide each change by the clock and you get its motion; divide the two changes by each other and you get the slope of the path itself. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · TWO RATES · ONE SLOPE · v3

Unit 4 is not assessed on the AP exam; schools include it where local requirements ask.

one rate per coordinate against the clock, one ratio for the path
Before you start
What you're looking at
A point moving along a curved path, with the changes in x, y and t marked between two moments.
The question
Which division gives a rate, and which one gives the slope of the path?
Step 1 / 12