Creating & interpreting motion graphs

Physical Science (A)

Mr. Mahlum

In this activity you will be exploring the motion of an ant, and describing how its position changes with respect to time. Because documenting the motion of an ant would be very time consuming, this part of the activity has already been done for you. The sheet provided shows the position of the ant noted at five second time intervals. Note that the ant’s motion was restricted to a linear path (1-D). A ruler has been placed alongside the path to assist in making measurements.

Instructions: Complete the data table provided, determining values for time and displacement.

Then, plot a graph of Displacement vs Time.

Questions: Answer the following questions of a separate sheet of paper and submit

with your data table and graph.

1. What was the displacement of the ant after 25 seconds?

2. At what time was the ant displaced 17.5 centimeters from the starting point?

3. Which direction was the ant moving during the interval 70< t<95 seconds?

4. What was the ant doing at time = 95 seconds?

5. What was the ant doing during the interval 130<t<140 seconds?

6. What is the velocity of the ant during the interval 25<t<50 seconds?

7. What is the velocity of the ant during the interval 75<t<85 seconds?

8. What is the velocity of the ant during the interval <130<t<140 seconds?

9. What is happening to the velocity during the interval 0<t<25 seconds?

10. What is the scientific name given to the change in motion described in #9?

11. What is happening to the velocity during the interval 105<t<130 seconds?

12. What is the scientific name given to the change in motion described in #11?

13. What is the net (total) displacement of the ant as shown on the graph?

14. What is the net (total) distance traveled by the ant as shown on the graph?

(hint: recall distance is measured along any chosen path!)

15. What is the average speed of the ant?