How can you calculate acceleration from a velocity-time graph?

Answer 1

simply put the acceleration is the slope of the speed vs time graph
Theory Part

think of it this way. the unit for speed is meters per second or m/s
the unit for acceleration is meters per second per second or m/s2


so essentially if speed is the change in position per change in time, acceleration is the change in speed per change in time.

Practical Part

now for the actual answer. look at the slope of your speed vs time graph at any time. that slope is the acceleration at that time. If you find the slope between two points on your graph, that gives you the average acceleration over that interval of time.

Answer 2

Velocity (speed) is the derivative of position. If you haven't taken calculus yet, derivative is simply slope. To find the speed of your object, pick out two points on your graph and find the slope between them.

To get the concept behind that, think about the units of speed: distance divided by time, like miles/hr. When you calculate slope, you take (distance unit - distance unit) / (time unit - time unit) and finally reach distance unit / time unit.

Answer 3

Acceleration is the derivative of velocity with respect to time.

What that means is, if you have a graph with time on x axis and velocity on the y axis, the slope of the line at a point in time is the acceleration at that same point in time.

if your velocity is a linear function of time (a straight line -- not curvy) you can find the acceleration in this way.

pick a time value, we'll call it t1.

pick another time value, we'll call it t2.

find the velocity associated with t1, we'll call it v1 v1=v(t1)

find the velocity associated with t2, we'll call it v2 v2=v(t2)

acceleration = (v2-v1)/(t2-t1)

and your units will be your units of velocity divided by the units of time. For example, if you're measuring velocity in miles per hour (mph) and time in seconds, your units will be miles/(hours*seconds). If you're using meters per second and seconds, it will be meters/(seconds^2).

Note that velocity is a vector quantity (it has a direction associated with it) and so is acceleration. Having non-zero acceleration means there will be a change in velocity, however, it does NOT NECESSARILY mean there will be a change in SPEED (which is the magnitude of velocity).

Answer 4

the maximum speed is the point on the graph with the greatest slope.

Note that the value this slope is the maximum speed, since the slope at any point on distance time graph is velocity

Answer 5

By measuring the area below the curve as force is directly proportional to acceleration for a fixed mass

Answer 6

We can calculate from the slope by te formula velocity = displacement / time

Answer 7

Hoe do you calculate bar graphs from speed

Answer 8

Acceleration is the slope/gradient of a velocity vs time graph