Acceleration and Motion Diagrams

Motion diagrams are visual tools that show an object's position at equal time intervals, like snapshots from a camera. By examining the spacing between positions, we can immediately see how the object is moving.

In uniform motion, an object moves with constant velocity—covering equal distances in equal time intervals. In a motion diagram, the positions are evenly spaced:

Notice the evenly spaced dots. When we add velocity arrows, they all have the same length and direction:

Note: The staggering of vectors is only for visual clarity. A vector's distance from the axis doesn't represent any difference in the object's actual motion.

Motion diagrams also show vertical motion. Here's an elevator moving upward at constant speed: