Motion with Different Accelerations
In this movie, you see a simulation of two different objects starting from rest with two different accelerations (one high and one low). Notice how the spaces (change in displacement) between each image of the balls gets larger, which indicates the objects are both accelerating. There are three color coded graphs beneath the moving objects which display: Displacement wrt Time, Velocity wrt Time, and Acceleration wrt Time. You should notice the following things from the graphs:
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- Displacement vs Time
- The change in displacement of both objects increase.
Both objects produce parabolic curves on the graph and the one with the higher acceleration has a steeper curve.
It should be noted that the slopes at different points of the curve represents the velocity at that point in time.
It should also noted that the area under the curve for this graph is absolutely meaningless.
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- Velocity vs Time
- Both objects produce straight line graphs with the slope of each line representing the acceleration of the individual object.
Notice the object with the greater slope has the greater acceleration.
The area under the curve represents the displacement traveled by the individual object.
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- Acceleration vs Time
- Both objects have constant accelerations.
The area under the curve represents the average velocity of the object.
The slope of the line represents the rate of change of acceleration (also known as the Jerk) which in this case is zero
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