Instead, whether the object is moving or not is a simple matter of whether or not the value of \(v\) is zero. \(t\) graph, we have to be careful not to use the same criterion as we did for the \(x\) vs. Obviously an object that is moving is one whose position is changing, so if the \(x\) value is changing, the object is moving. But we should strive to look at this physically as well. Mathematically, we know that the velocity is the slope of the position graph, so since 'at rest' means zero velocity, the object is at rest when the tangent line to the \(x\) vs.
Although this is a property of velocity we can answer it using the position graph (we only get unknown constants when we integrate, not when we take derivatives). Q2: Is the object at rest, or is it moving?Īnother seemingly obvious question to answer, but again there are things to keep in mind.
