wunder beta

📈 Speed and Distance-Time Graphs

How fast is fast? Learn to measure speed with distance ÷ time, then read and calculate speed straight off a distance-time graph.

lessons

~20 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Teens

level

Start the course →

What you’ll learn

What Is Speed?Define speed as distance ÷ time and calculate it with correct units.Speed measures how fast something moves: speed = distance ÷ time. It is usually given in metres per second (m/s) or kilometres per hour (km/h). To find a speed you need both a distance and a time, then you divide — for example, 100 metres in 20 seconds is 5 m/s.
Reading Distance-Time GraphsInterpret distance-time graphs, including flat, gentle, and steep lines.On a distance-time graph, time runs along the bottom and distance up the side. The slope of the line shows the speed: a steeper line is faster, a gentler line is slower, and a flat line means the object is stationary. A line falling back toward zero shows an object returning to its start.
Calculating Speed from GraphsCalculate speed from a distance-time graph by reading values and dividing.To calculate speed from a distance-time graph, read the distance and the time off the axes and divide distance by time. For a line reaching 30 metres at 5 seconds, the speed is 30 ÷ 5 = 6 m/s. The steeper the line, the greater this calculated speed.

Questions this course answers

How do you calculate speed?

Speed is the distance travelled divided by the time taken: speed = distance ÷ time.

A car travels 60 metres in 12 seconds. What is its speed?

Divide distance by time: 60 m ÷ 12 s = 5 m/s.

Which of these is a unit of speed?

Speed combines a distance and a time, so its units are distance per time, like metres per second.

On a distance-time graph, a flat horizontal line means the object is...

A flat line means the distance is not changing over time, so the object is standing still.

Two lines start together. Which one shows the faster object?

The slope of a distance-time line is the speed, so the steeper line is the faster object.

A distance-time line reaches 30 metres at 5 seconds. What speed does that show?

Read distance and time off the graph, then divide: 30 m ÷ 5 s = 6 m/s.

Grounded in trusted sources

BBC Bitesize
Britannica
The Physics Classroom
NASA

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

Related Science courses

🛝Predicting How Things Move 🚆Relative Motion 🏃Speed and Energy ⚡Static Electricity and Sparks 🌱Stopping Erosion 🐠Symbiosis in Nature 🧱Taking Things Apart and Rebuilding 🔬Testing and Classifying Materials

Wunder is a personalized learn-anything platform — tell it any topic and it builds a beautiful, fact-checked course in minutes, with narration, a knowledge check, and a college-style University track.

Browse more Science courses · All topics · Home