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What physical quantity does the area under a velocity versus time graph represent?
ADisplacement
BAcceleration
CAverage speed
DTotal distance
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Displacement
1. Velocity multiplied by a small time interval gives the displacement covered in that interval.
2. Summing those small pieces across the graph is exactly what the area under the curve does.
3. So the total area under a velocity vs. time curve equals the displacement.
_Source: OpenStax Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "Motion in One Dimension", section 2.4 Velocity vs. Time Graphs_
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