Q.Prove that area under v - t (Velocity - Time) graph is equal to displacement?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The area under a v-t graph equals displacement because each thin strip of that area, v dt, is exactly the small displacement covered in time dt.
Consider an object whose velocity v varies with time, and its v-t graph over some interval from to .
Divide this time interval into a large number of very small intervals, each of width dt. During any one such small interval, the velocity can be treated as (approximately) constant, equal to v at that instant. The displacement covered in that tiny interval is:
But is also exactly the area of a thin vertical strip on the v-t graph, of height v and width dt.
To get the total displacement from to , we add up (integrate) the displacement contributed by every such strip:
But summing the areas of all these thin strips is precisely how we compute the total area under the v-t curve between and . Hence:
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