199k views
4 votes
Situation: A volunteer walks away from the motion detector at a constant rate. In other words, he or she should walk the same speed the entire time.

Comment below:

What do you wonder?
If you graphed this, what would it look like? Why?
Would the speed affect the graph?

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

The graph of a volunteer walking away from a motion detector at a constant rate would show a straight line with a positive slope on a distance vs. time graph, indicating constant velocity. A faster speed would result in a steeper slope, while the velocity vs. time graph would be a horizontal line if the speed does not change.

Step-by-step explanation:

When graphing the scenario of a volunteer walking away from a motion detector at a constant rate, we would expect to see a certain type of graph based on the distance vs. time relationship. Since the volunteer is moving at a uniform speed, the distance vs.

time graph would display a straight line with a positive slope. This is because the distance from the motion detector is increasing uniformly over time. If the speed is constant, then the slope of this line, representing the velocity, will also be constant.

Should the volunteer's speed be faster, the slope of the distance vs. time graph would be steeper, indicating a larger increase in distance over the same amount of time. This is because the velocity is higher, and thus the volunteer covers more ground in the same period.

Whether observed by a bus passenger or a sidewalk observer, the relative motion will vary, but the volunteer's velocity relative to the ground remains consistent.

Now, considering a velocity vs. time graph, if the volunteer's velocity is constant, this graph would show a horizontal line reflecting the unchanging speed. In contrast, if the velocity changes, the graph would have a slope indicating acceleration (positive slope) or deceleration (negative slope).

User DJeePe
by
7.3k points