The horizontal position of a car in a parking lot can be specified by providing its x and y coordinates. At time t = 0 s the car is located at x = y = 0 m. The Figure below shows the position of the car at 1 s intervals, starting from t = 0 s. It turns out that the x component of the velocity is constant. Use the Figure to estimate the magnitude of the x component of the velocity.
the x-component of velocity is distance/time = ∆x/∆t
You know that each time interval is 1, so the x-velocity is just the step value between the x's.
To estimate the magnitude of the x component of the velocity, we can use the information given in the Figure. The Figure shows the position of the car at 1-second intervals, starting from t = 0 s.
To determine the x component of the velocity, we need to examine how the x coordinate of the car changes over time. In this case, we can observe that the car moves horizontally along the x-axis.
We can start by looking at the change in the x coordinate from t = 0 s to t = 1 s. We can see that the car moves from x = 0 m to x = 2 m in 1 second. Therefore, the change in the x coordinate is 2 m.
Next, we can look at the change in the x coordinate from t = 1 s to t = 2 s. We can see that the car moves from x = 2 m to x = 4 m in 1 second. Therefore, the change in the x coordinate is 2 m again.
By examining the changes in the x coordinate at each 1-second interval, we can see that the x component of the velocity is constant and equal to 2 m/s.
Therefore, the magnitude of the x component of the velocity is 2 m/s.