Lesson: Instantaneous Speed Physics • First Year of Secondary School

In this lesson, we will learn how to determine the instantaneous speed of an object by using a tangent to find the slope at a point on the object's displacement–time graph.

Lesson Plan

Students will be able to

identify from straight-line displacement–time graphs what the speed of an object at a particular instant in time is (as opposed to over a time range),
correctly identify tangents to curves on displacement–time graphs,
use tangents to curves to find the speed of an object at an instant,
recognize that if the tangent is a horizontal line, then the speed is zero,
recognize that the greater the slope of the tangent, the greater the instantaneous speed at that point.