IB skill practice

Interpret displacement, velocity, and acceleration in kinematics

Paper 1, Paper 2 5 marks Difficulty 5

Local acceleration from tangent gradient

A tangent on a velocity-time graph from a wind-tunnel trolley trace changes from \(10\,\text{m s}^{-1}\) to \(16\,\text{m s}^{-1}\) across \(2.6\,\text{s}\). Estimate the instantaneous acceleration. Enter the numerical result and choose the interpretation that matches the physics meaning.

Worked practice: physics data and result

Read the physical quantities first, then calculate the result and state what it means.