AQA GCSE Physics (8463), Higher tier · Forces › Forces and motion › Describing motion along a line
Practise Distance–time graphs. 15 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
Cover the answers and test yourself. The app has these as flashcards that come back just before you'd forget them.
Suggest one advantage of this method over a student using a stopwatch and metre rule to record distance manually at intervals.
It records far more, and more precise, data points than manual timing could.
A student walks at a constant speed and covers 350 m in 250 s. Calculate their speed.
1.4 m/s
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy3 marks
(a) On a distance–time graph, what does a steeper gradient represent? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
A greater distance
A greater speed
A longer time
A smaller speed
(b) A student walks at a constant speed and covers 350 m in 250 s. Calculate their speed.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: A greater speed
(b)Answer: 1.4 m/s
v = 350 ÷ 250
1.4 (m/s)
Question 2Medium4 marks
A student wants to obtain a distance–time graph for a toy car as it moves across the floor.
(a) Describe how the student could use an ultrasonic position sensor connected to a data logger to obtain a distance–time graph for the car.[3]
(b) Suggest one advantage of this method over a student using a stopwatch and metre rule to record distance manually at intervals.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Point a position sensor at the car; the data logger records distance at frequent regular intervals and plots it against time automatically.
set up the position sensor so that it faces the car and can detect the car throughout its motion
the sensor (and data logger) automatically records the car’s distance from the sensor at very short, regular time intervals
the data logger (or connected computer) plots this distance and time data directly as a distance–time graph
(b)Answer: It records far more, and more precise, data points than manual timing could.
it can record many more data points, much more frequently and precisely, than would be possible by hand, giving a smoother and more detailed graph
Question 3Hard6 marks
Explain how you could use a distance–time graph to determine: (i) whether an object is stationary, moving at a constant speed, or accelerating; (ii) the object’s speed at one instant, if the graph is a curve rather than a straight line.[6]
Show the answer and mark scheme
a horizontal line (zero gradient) shows the object is stationary
a straight, sloping line (constant, non-zero gradient) shows the object is moving at a constant speed
a curved line, where the gradient is changing, shows the object is accelerating (speeding up) or decelerating (slowing down)
speed at any point equals the gradient of the graph at that point
for a straight-line section, the gradient (and so the speed) can be found directly from any two points on the line: change in distance ÷ change in time
for a curved section, a tangent must be drawn to the curve at the instant of interest, and the gradient of that tangent (found using a large triangle) gives the speed at that instant
Marked with levels of response: the full level descriptors are in the app.