Motion Diagrams II - Kinematics | Show Me The Physics

Instantaneous Velocity - velocity at a single moment in time

Warm-Up

Video Instruction

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Velocity at a single moment in time

What is the velocity of the object at 6 seconds?

Step 1 - Draw a tangent line at the time you want to find the velocity

Step 2 - Find the SLOPE of the tangent line (Slope = Velocity)

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Slope of tangent = Δd/Δt
= Velocity @ 6 sec.

= (2.5 m − .5 m)/(8.8 sec − 4 sec)

= .4 m/s

Rank the accelerations from greatest to least.

June 2026

Show this to your young siblings or cousins. All you need is whole milk, food dye, and a Q-tip soaked in dish detergent.

5 quick questions — pick an answer to see if you’re right.

1. What is instantaneous velocity?

2. How do you find instantaneous velocity from a curved displacement vs. time graph?

3. A tangent line drawn at t = 6 s passes through (2 s, 1 m) and (10 s, 5 m). What is the velocity at 6 s?

4. What does a car's speedometer display?

5. On a curved displacement vs. time graph, the tangent slope is 1 m/s at 2 s and 3 m/s at 6 s. The object is...