What is the difference between a velocity time graph and a distance time graph?

There are too many differences.

Distance and displacement are related.

Speed and velocity are related.

velocity is the rate of change of DISPLACEMENT not distance.

This is important and you may not yet know why.

But displacement is where you are measured from starting point and distance is how far you have moved to get there.

Now if you go on a curved path or you go out and come back then the distance you have moved is much greater than your displacement.

The other aspect is that velocity is a measure of how FAST you are moving.

Now if you have moved somewhere then stopped your distance or displacement is not zero but it is constant.

The speed AND the velocity are both zero though. And this would show on the graph because the line would fall to the origin.

Velocity time graph:

1. Slope determine the acceleration of the object

2. Area under curve represent the displacement

Distance time curve:

1. Slope determine speed of the object

One has distance and time on the graph and the other has velocity and time on the graph.

( 1 ) The velocity versus time slope at any selected time is the acceleration at that selected time.

( 2 ) The above accelerations, slopes , will yield an acceleration versus time graph.

( 3 ) The area below the velocity versus time graph between any two selected times is

the distance traveled during that time increment.

( 4 ) The distance versus time graph gives the distance traveled versus time and

the distance traveled between any two selected times.

( 5 ) The above distance traveled between the above two selected times divided

by the time difference gives the average velocity during the selected time increment.

( 6 ) The slope of the distance versus time graph at any selected time gives you the

acceleration at the selected time.

Such graphs give evidence that " A picture is worth a thousand words."

A distance time graph only requires x and y coordinates in order to plot distance and time.

In addition to time and distance, a velocity time graph also requires a coordinate system that allows you to plot direction.

a distance time graph tells u about how much distance a body has traveled with time

whereas a velocity time graph is all about rate of change of "displacement" (and not distance) with respect to time.

the information that you can get is

from distance time graph you can find speed and

from displacement time graph you can find displacement as well as acceleration.

hope that helps..........

Velocity time graph gives displacement which can be negative.

Speed time graph gives distance which is positive.

Velocity is vector.So it can be negative.

Speed is scalar so it is always positive.

The difference is which quantity of motion, you place on the vertical axis.

For a velocity vs time graph, you place velocity on the vertical axis.

For a distance vs time graph, you place distance on the vertical axis.

velocity time graph: If the graph is a horizontal line, velocity is not changing so acceleration is zero.

distance time graph: If the graph is a horizontal line, position is not changing, it's not moving, so the velocity is zero.

Basically the variable you are measuring is the difference. In one you are measuring velocity as a function of time while in the other you are measuring distance as a function of time.

Velocity is the rate of change of acceleration and is a vector quantity while distance is simply a measurement of displacement from an origin point and is therefore a scalar quantity.