CAIE IGCSE Physics Distance from Speed-Time Graphs

Practise finding distance as the area under a speed-time graph, splitting journeys into rectangles, triangles or trapezia and retaining consistent units.

Exam points

state that the area between a speed-time graph and the time axis represents distance travelled
split the required interval into rectangles, triangles or trapezia and sum their areas
use the specified time limits and convert minutes or graph-scale units before reporting distance

[Maximum number: 3]

A ship sails in a straight line between two ports.
Fig. 1.1 shows the speed-time graph of the ship for the first 100 minutes of its journey between the two ports.

Fig. 1.1

Calculate the total distance travelled by the ship between time $=42 \mathrm{~min}$ and time $=100 \mathrm{~min}$ .

48000 m or 48 km

A3

area under graph

C1

$\frac{1}{2}(18 \times 7.5 \times 60)+(7.5 \times 18 \times 60)+(15 \times 40 \times 60)$

C1

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1.2.7—Area under a speed–time graph to question 1