GCSE :: Rates of Change
jfrost@[Link]
[Link]
@DrFrostMaths
Last modified: 3rd October 2017
Use of DrFrostMaths for practice
Register for free at:
[Link]/homework
Practise questions by chapter, including past
paper Edexcel questions and UKMT.
Teachers: you can create student accounts
(or students can register themselves).
What does gradient indicate? ?
?
45
40
Distance from home (m)
35
30
Dave goes to visit his friend Bob who
25
lives just a few doors away.
20
15
10
5
Time (secs)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
How many metres do he travel Therefore how in general can we interpret the
per second on his journey there? gradient of a distance-time graph?
We worked out the change in distance per each 1
second increase in time.
This the gradient of the line and tells us the rate of
change of distance with respect to time.
For a distance-time graph, the rate of change is the
speed.
Gradient of Velocity-Time Graph
9
8 Dave pushes his friend Bob, who is on a
7
wonky skateboard, down a steep hill.
Velocity (m/s)
6
5 What does the gradient, i.e. the rate of
4 change of speed, represent now?
3 ?
The acceleration.
2
1
Time (secs)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
?
?
Test Your Understanding
45 9
40 8
35 7
Distance travelled (m)
Velocity (m/s)
30 6
25 5
20 4
15 3
10 2
Time Time
5 1
(s) (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
? ?
? ?
? ?
When the line is curved
45
40
35
Speed (m/s)
30
Draw the tangent to the curve
25
at this particular time. The
20 gradient of the tangent will be
15 the same as the curve at this
? 10
instant in time.
5
Time (secs)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Test Your Understanding
?
More Difficult Example
The proof for why this works is quite
complicated and would require you to
know ‘definite integration’; a topic not
covered till A Level
?
Exercise 1 (on printed sheet)
1 45 2 45
40 40
35
35
Speed (m/s)
Speed (m/s)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15
15
10 10
5 Time (s) 5 Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
? ?
? ?
?
Exercise 1 (on printed sheet)
3 45 4
40 45
40
35
35
Displacement (m)
Speed (m/s)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15
15
10
10 5 Time (s)
5 Time
(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
? ?
? ?
(Fro Note: The difference between ‘distance’ and
‘displacement’ is that displacement can be negative, and can
decrease, whereas distance travelled always increases)
Exercise 1 (on printed sheet)
5 45
40
35
Speed (m/s)
30
25
20
15
10
5 Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
Area under speed-time graphs.
45
40
35 ?
Speed (m/s)
30
25
20
15
10
5 Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
Harder Example
45 What is the distance travelled?
40
35
Speed (m/s)
30
25
20
?
15
10
5 Time (s)
?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
?
Test Your Understanding
?
Estimating area under a curved graph
Suppose we want to estimate
45
40 the area under the graph in
35 order to determine the
Speed (m/s)
30 distance travelled. What
25 might be a good strategy?
20
Divide up the area into
15
trapeziums and/or triangles
10
5
?
that best fill the area.
Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
“Work out an estimate for the distance the car travelled in the first 12
seconds. Use 4 strips of equal width.” Total width is 12, so each strip is 3 wide.
?
Test Your Understanding
?
Problem Solving
Speed (m/s)
Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
Exercise 2 (on printed sheet)
1 Calculate the distance travelled by these cars in their first 10 seconds.
a 45 b 45
40 40
35 35
Speed (m/s)
Speed (m/s)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5 Time (s)
Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
? ?
c d
45 45
40 40
35 Speed (m/s) 35
Speed (m/s)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 Time (s) 5 Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
? ?
Exercise 2 (on printed sheet)
2 3
Speed (m/s)
Speed (m/s)
Time (s) Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
?
?
Exercise 2 (on printed sheet)
4 45
5 45
40 40
35 35
Speed (m/s)
Speed (m/s)
30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5 Time (s)
Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
? ?
?
Exercise 2
45
40
35
Speed (m/s)
30
25
20
15
10
5 Time (s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
