Distance-time graphs help us visualise how far an object travels in a given period of time. Below is an example of a distance-time graph.
The time in seconds (s) is always on the x-axis and the distance in metres (m) is always on the y-axis.
The gradient on the distance-time graph (how steep the line is) tells us the speed of the object. The steeper the line is, the faster the speed of the object is.
Therefore, the gradient of the line is:
The delta symbol (Δ) means change. So in this case, ΔD means change in distance and ΔT means change in time.
When looking at a distance-time graph, we can identify important features: