Instantaneous Speed Flashcards

All 3 cards in this deck

What is instantaneous speed?

The speed of an object at one particular moment in time, rather than averaged over a journey.

True or false? On a curved distance–time graph, the speed at a point is found by dividing the total distance by the total time.

False. That gives the average speed; the speed at a point needs the gradient of a tangent.

What is a tangent to a curve on a distance–time graph?

A straight line drawn touching the curve at one point, with the same gradient as the curve there.