YEAR 8 SCIENCE

CHAPTER 13: SPEED

CHAPTER 13: SPEED
o Speed is a measure of the distance
covered by an object in a certain time.
Speed is given by the formula:
Distance travelled
Time taken
o The units for speed are m/s and km/h.
o Speed can be measured using:
(i) Speedometer
(ii) Speed trap gun
(iii) Stopwatch
(iv) Light gates




CHAPTER 13: SPEED
The speedometer
o The speedometer in a vehicle is
connected by a cable to a wheel shaft.
o When the wheel shaft turns, the wire in
the cable also turns.
o At the other end of the wire is a magnet.
It spins around when the wire turns. The
magnet is surrounded by a circular metal
cup which is affected by the spinning
magnet.
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
o As the speed of the spinning magnet
increases, the cup also turns faster.
o The hairspring holds the cup to prevent it
from turning too much.
o The pointer turns with the cup and moves
across the scale of the speedometer dial.
CHAPTER 13: SPEED

Speedometer
CHAPTER 13: SPEED

Speedometer dial
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
The speed trap gun
o The speed trap gun is a radar gun.
o When the gun is fired at an approaching
vehicle, a beam of radio waves travels to it
through air.
o The radio waves are reflected off the front
of the vehicle and returns to a receiver
on the gun.
o A computer in the gun compares the time
difference between sending and
receiving the beam. The computer then
calculates the vehicles speed.

CHAPTER 13: SPEED
Speed trap gun
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
The stopwatch
o The stopwatch is started as the object
passed the start line and stopped when
the object passed the finish line.
o The distance travelled from the start
line to the finish line is measured and
divided by the time measured by the
stopwatch. This gives the speed of the
object.
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
Stopwatch
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
Light gates
o In a light gate, a beam of light shines onto a
light-sensitive switch.
o When the beam of the light gate used at the
start of a speed test is broken by an object
passing through it, the switch starts an
electronic stopwatch.
o When the beam of the light gate used at the
finish of the speed test is broken by the
object passing through it, it causes
the stopwatch to be stopped.

CHAPTER 13: SPEED
o The speed of the object is then calculated
by dividing the distance between the
light gates by the time as measured by
the electronic stopwatch.



Light gates
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
o A distance/time graph shows the
distance travelled by an object over a
period of time.
o The distance travelled by the object is
recorded on the vertical axis and the time
taken for the object to travel the distance
is recorded on the horizontal axis.
o The gradient of the graph gives the
speed of the object. The greater the
gradient, the greater the speed of the
object.
CHAPTER 13: SPEED

Distance/time graph
Stationary
Constant speed
Constant speed
(object moving to
back to its
starting point)
Graph A
Graph B
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
Calculations involving distance/time graph.
1. Calculate the speed for Graph A.
Speed = Distance travelled
Time taken
= 10
2
= 5 m/s

CHAPTER 13: SPEED
2. Calculate the speed in the first 4 seconds
for Graph B.
Speed = Distance travelled
Time taken
= 8
4
= 2 m/s
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
3. Calculate the speed from 4 seconds to 7
seconds for Graph B.
Speed = Distance travelled
Time taken
= 0
3
= 0
CHAPTER 13: SPEED
4. Calculate the speed for the last 3 seconds
for Graph B.
Speed = Distance travelled
Time taken
= 8
3
= 2
2
/
3
m/s




CHAPTER 13: SPEED
o When something moves it goes in a
particular direction.
o When the speed and the direction of
movement are given together this is called
velocity.