1-D Motion Simulation
Position, velocity and acceleration are related by slopes and areas, and this simulation draws all three graphs together as an object moves along a line. Changing the motion updates every graph at once, making the connections concrete.
How to use this simulation
- Set the initial position, velocity and acceleration
- Play, pause and scrub through the motion
- Read values off all three graphs at any instant
What to look for
- Constant velocity gives a straight position graph and a flat velocity graph
- Constant acceleration curves the position graph into a parabola
- The object is momentarily at rest where the position graph turns, not where it crosses zero
The physics behind it
Velocity is the gradient of the position–time graph and acceleration the gradient of the velocity–time graph. Working backwards, the area under a velocity–time graph gives displacement and the area under an acceleration–time graph gives change in velocity. For constant acceleration these relationships reduce to the standard equations of motion.