Page History

h3. Graphical Representations    [!copyright and waiver^SectionEdit.png!|Motion with Constant Acceleration (Graphs)]

One way to graphically represent constant [acceleration] is to draw a [velocity versus time graph].  By the definition:

{latex}\begin{large}\[ a = \frac{dv}{dt}\]\end{large}{latex}

it is clear that the [acceleration] is equal to the slope of such a graph, so that if the [acceleration] is constant, the [velocity versus time graph] will necessarily be linear.

Another way to graphically represent acceleration is to note that the equation:

{latex}\begin{large}\[ x_{f} = x_{i} + v_{i}(t_{f}-t_{i}) + \frac{1}{2}a(t_{f}-t_{i})^{2}\]\end{large}{latex}

implies that for the case of constant acceleration, the [position versus time graph] describing the motion will be a parabola.