1. Unit 5 – Physics on the Road
Lesson 2

2. Learning Intentions
 To be able to plot and interpret distance – time and
speed – time graphs

3. Distance – time graphs

4. Distance-time graph

5. Hare
tortoise
The fable of the
hare and tortoise.
The race was
500m.
The tortoise wins in
10 minutes.
The hare rests at
the 400m mark.
The hare rests for 5
minutes.
TASKS
Plot a distance time graph for both the hare and tortoise on the
same axes.
Use your graph to
• Calculate the speed of the tortoise.
• Calculate the fastest speed of the hare

7. Sprinters
Take the following text and use it to produce a table of velocity and time. Then
plot a velocity time graph and work out the race distance.
The winner took 7 seconds to
reach her top speed of 10 m/s.
She ran at this speed for 10
seconds.
She was running at 8 m/s when
she finished.
Her finishing time was 24
seconds.

9. Time (s) Velocity (m/s)
0 0
2 10
4 20
6 20
8 0
Cheetah HuntUse the velocity time data to plot a graph.
 Mark points of acceleration, deceleration and steady speed.
 Change the data into a brief description of the hunt.
 Calculate the acceleration and deceleration of the cheetah.

10. Tachograph
By law HGV’s must have a tachometer and produce
tachographs. This monitors journeys driven in the truck to
ensure the driver is acting safely.
Q1. What type of graph is
a tachograph?
Q2. What time did the
driver start and end
work?
Q3. When did the driver
have lunch?
Q4. What was his top
speed?
Q5. What was the longest
journey he travelled?
A) in time
B) in distance
(estimate both)