First, look at the slope. A positive slope means the elevation is increasing, and a negative slope means it's decreasing. Steep slopes indicate rapid changes.
We can learn about the rate of change in elevation over time. For example, if the graph has a steep slope upwards, it means the elevation is increasing rapidly, perhaps indicating climbing a steep hill. If it's a flat line, the elevation is not changing, like walking on a flat plane.
In the elevation versus time graphing story, we should also consider the units of measurement. If the elevation is measured in meters and time in hours, we can calculate the rate of change in elevation per hour. For instance, if the elevation changes by 500 meters in 2 hours, the rate is 250 meters per hour. This can help us understand the speed at which the elevation is changing. Moreover, any sudden jumps or drops in the graph might represent something out of the ordinary in the story, like a cliff that was climbed or a deep hole that was descended into.
First, decide on the events that will change the elevation. For example, a journey that includes climbing a hill, crossing a valley, and then climbing another hill. Then, mark the time intervals for each part of the journey. After that, plot the elevation changes according to the time passed. So if climbing the first hill takes 2 hours and the elevation increases steadily, you can represent that on the graph.
When the graph is a sloping straight line, like a positive slope, it indicates a constant acceleration. Say the slope is 2 m/s². This means the velocity of the object is increasing by 2 meters per second every second. If the initial velocity was 0, after 1 second it would be 2 m/s, after 2 seconds 4 m/s and so on. The steeper the slope, the greater the acceleration.
Well, in a distance - time graph story, a steep upward curve could represent rapid acceleration. Let's say a car starts from rest and quickly speeds up. This would show as the distance increasing rapidly over a short period of time on the graph. On the other hand, a downward - sloping line in a distance - time graph doesn't really make physical sense for normal motion because it would imply that the object is getting closer to the starting point as time goes on without going back in time. Usually, we see downward - sloping lines in cases like when we are considering the distance between two moving objects where one is catching up to the other.
To analyze a distance - time graph story, check the slope. A positive slope means the object is moving forward. If the slope is zero, the object is stationary.
Suppose the graph has a curve that is concave up. This might represent an object that is accelerating. For instance, a rocket taking off. At the start, its displacement might increase slowly as it builds up thrust. But as time goes on and the thrust is more effective, it accelerates and the displacement changes more rapidly. The shape of the curve on the displacement - time graph can really tell us a lot about the motion of the object.
Think about a roller coaster. Initially, when it starts moving from the station, its speed is slow and gradually picks up. This is shown by the upward slope on the speed - time graph in the first minute or so. Then, it reaches a high speed and maintains that for some time, like for the next 2 - 3 minutes. Riders are screaming with excitement. As the ride nears the end, the speed decreases until it comes to a complete stop at the end of the track. All of these phases can be clearly seen and described using the speed - time graph.
First, look at the sign of the acceleration. Positive means speeding up, negative means slowing down. Then check the slope. Steep slope means high rate of change of acceleration. For example, in a graph of a ball thrown upwards, the acceleration is negative (due to gravity) and constant.