A toy car is observed moving along a straight track

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Motion · Motion

Problem

A toy car is observed moving along a straight track. The observer notes the following points on the distance–time graph of the motion: • (0 s, 0 m)(0\,\text{s},\,0\,\text{m}) to (4 s, 8 m)(4\,\text{s},\,8\,\text{m}) – straight line. • From 4 s4\,\text{s} to 8 s8\,\text{s} the graph is a smooth curve. A tangent drawn at t=6 st=6\,\text{s} passes through (5 s,14 m)(5\,\text{s},14\,\text{m}) and (7 s,26 m)(7\,\text{s},26\,\text{m}). • (8 s,20 m)(8\,\text{s},20\,\text{m}) to (10 s,20 m)(10\,\text{s},20\,\text{m}) – straight horizontal line. Answer the following questions based on this information. (i) Explain how the speed of the car can be obtained from a distance–time graph for (a) a straight segment and (b) a curved segment. (ii) Calculate the speed of the car during the first straight segment. (iii) Using the given tangent, find the instantaneous speed of the car at t=6 st=6\,\text{s}. (iv) Which part of the motion shows zero speed? Justify your answer. (v) State two differences between instantaneous speed and average speed, referring to the data above as examples.

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