Motion Graphs Are Machines, Not Pictures

You'll learnto read a motion graph as a record of position over time, using slope and area.

One cart, two graphs drawn live. A motion graph plots one number changing over time — and it only ever asks for two moves: read a slope, read an area. Learn both, and stop seeing hills where there aren’t any.

FORMAT DEMO · 8 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · v6

GRAPH LAB

Before you start

What you're looking at

A cart on a flat track above two live graphs: position-time on the left, velocity-time on the right.

The question

How do you read how fast (slope) and how far (area) straight off a motion graph?

Watch for

Watch the graph line get drawn in sync with the cart, so it records the motion rather than picturing the path.

What the symbols mean

Left panel plots position vs time, right plots velocity vs time; the HUD shows live numbers, tilt means speed, height means location.

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