In this section, you are challenged to match a pre-drawn position-time graph by moving a ball along a number line. As you drag the ball, its position at each instant will be graphed. Your challenge is to get as close as you can to the target graph.

When you open the interactive simulation on the right, you will see a graph and a coordinate system with x positions on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. Below the graph is a ball on a number line. Examine the graph and decide how you will move the ball over the 10 seconds to best match the target graph. You may find it helpful to think about the velocity described by the target graph. Where is it increasing? decreasing? zero? If you are not sure, review the section on position-time graphs and velocity.

You can choose to display a graph of the velocity of the motion of the ball as described by the target graph by clicking a checkbox. We encourage you to think first about what the velocity will be and use this checkbox to confirm your hypothesis.

Create your graph by dragging the ball and watching the graph of its motion. You can press RESET and try again as often as you like.