A three-wheeler starts from rest, accelerates uniformly with 1 m/s 2 on a straight road for 10 s, and then moves with uniform velocity. Plot the distance covered by the vehicle during the nth second (n = 1,2,3….) versus n. What do you expect this plot to be during accelerated motion: a straight line or a parabola?

Question

Philoid · Accepted Answer

Straight line. Because,

Distance covered by the body in n^th second is given by the equation,

D_n = u + m

Where,

u = initial velocity,

a = acceleration,

n = time = 1, 2, 3 ……, n

Given,

u = 0 m/s and a = 1 m/s²

∴ D_n = m ……………….. (1)

By substituting n values in equation 1, n = 1, 2, 3……… we get,

The graph obtain by above points is,

It is a straight line not parabola.