Information

Question

A toy car travels in a straight line. The graph shows the position of the toy car as a function of time.
 
Short description, A line graph.,Long description,
The line graph shows the x-axis is labeled Time in seconds, and the y-axis is labeled Position in meters. The line begins at 0.0 seconds; 0.0 meters and increases steadily to 6.5 seconds, 1.5 meters.
Question
What is the speed of the toy car after 5.0 seconds?

Answer 1

To determine the speed of the toy car after 5.0 seconds, we need to calculate the slope of the position vs. time graph, which represents speed.

From the description, we can identify the following information:

• At 0.0 seconds, the position is 0.0 meters.
• At 6.5 seconds, the position is 1.5 meters.

We can use these two points to find the average speed over the time interval:

1. The change in position (Δy) = 1.5 meters - 0.0 meters = 1.5 meters.
2. The change in time (Δx) = 6.5 seconds - 0.0 seconds = 6.5 seconds.

Now, calculate the average speed:

\[ \text{Average Speed} = \frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x} = \frac{1.5 \text{ meters}}{6.5 \text{ seconds}} \approx 0.231 \text{ meters/second} \]

Since the graph shows a steady increase in position, we can assume that the speed remains constant throughout this period. Thus, the speed of the toy car after 5.0 seconds is approximately 0.231 meters/second.