To determine the average velocity of a bowling ball, students measure the distance traveled as 15.00 meters, and the time as 10.35 seconds. Calculate the average velocity to the correct number of significant figures. Considering human reaction time, do you think significant figures rules give a valid estimation of the precision of the experiment? How could this experiment be improved using the slope of a graph? What would you graph?

I understand finding the velocity, but I'm confused how a graph and its slope would help at all.

Question

To determine the average velocity of a bowling ball, students measure the distance traveled as 15.00 meters, and the time as 10.35 seconds. Calculate the average velocity to the correct number of significant figures. Considering human reaction time, do you think significant figures rules give a valid estimation of the precision of the experiment? How could this experiment be improved using the slope of a graph? What would you graph?

I understand finding the velocity, but I'm confused how a graph and its slope would help at all.

joemc · Answer

If you plot position vs. time, the slope is the velocity. Here is a resource that discusses this with examples: http://tinyurl.com/kogetp8