The slope of a distance-time graph gives which quantity?
- A.Speed
- B.Acceleration
- C.Distance
- D.Momentum
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, speed. The slope of any graph is the change on the vertical axis divided by the change on the horizontal axis; here that is distance divided by time, which is speed by definition.
Option B, acceleration, is the slope of a velocity-time graph, not of a distance-time graph, and this is the pair that examiners deliberately confuse. Option C, distance, is read from the vertical axis directly and is not a slope at all. Option D, momentum, cannot be obtained from such a graph without the mass. Two shapes are worth recognising at sight: a straight sloping line on a distance-time graph means uniform speed, and a line parallel to the time axis means the body is stationary, while a curve of increasing slope means the body is speeding up.
Read the full article: Motion, Force and Newton's Laws: Formulas and Facts
Practice Questions
View allNewton's first law of motion is also known by which name?
- A.Law of inertia
- B.Law of momentum
- C.Law of action and reaction
- D.Law of gravitation
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The first law states that a body continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless an unbalanced external force acts on it, which is exactly the property called inertia.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is a vector quantity?
- A.Distance
- B.Speed
- C.Displacement
- D.Time
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It is the shortest distance from the starting point to the finishing point together with the direction of that straight line, so it has both magnitude and direction and is therefore a vector.
Read the full explanation →The equation force equals mass multiplied by acceleration follows from which law of motion?
- A.First law
- B.Second law
- C.Third law
- D.Law of conservation of energy
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It states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the applied force and takes place in the direction of the force.
Read the full explanation →The recoil of a gun when a bullet is fired is explained by the conservation of which quantity?
- A.Energy
- B.Linear momentum
- C.Mass
- D.Electric charge
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Before firing, the gun and the bullet are at rest, so the total momentum of the system is zero.
Read the full explanation →What is the SI unit of momentum?
- A.Newton
- B.Joule
- C.Kilogram metre per second
- D.Newton per second
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Momentum is the product of mass and velocity, so its unit is the unit of mass multiplied by the unit of velocity, that is kilogram multiplied by metre per second.
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