Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics · specification 4PH1 · Paper 1 | Whole paper: Core content, all eight topics · Free · no account needed
1(b) Movement and position (4PH1 specification)
Describing motion with graphs and four relationships, including the one that lets you skip time entirely.
Learn it on Incandio
The 2 Incandio pages that teach this — each explained in full, then proved in marked questions, taught back to an AI pupil and defended in a debate. Completely free.
- Speed, and What a Distance–Time Graph Is Telling You — Speed as a rate, the units physics insists on, and how to read a journey straight off a graph.
- Acceleration and the Velocity–Time Graph — What acceleration actually measures, why its unit looks strange, and how one graph gives you both acceleration and distance.
The teaching route this belongs to: Topic 1 · Forces and motion (Physics) — the lessons in order, with every gate.
Specification coverage
Topic 1 Forces and motion (b) Movement and position — statements 1.3–1.10
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO2, AO3. Suggested learning time: 70 minutes.
Required knowledge
- Plot and explain distance–time graphs
- average speed = distance moved ÷ time taken
- acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time taken, a = (v − u) ÷ t
- Plot and explain velocity–time graphs
- Determine acceleration from the gradient of a velocity–time graph
- Determine distance travelled from the area between a velocity–time graph and the time axis
- v² = u² + (2 × a × s)
Required skills
- Read gradients and areas off motion graphs accurately
- Choose the correct relationship from the information given
- Rearrange relationships confidently before substituting
- Describe and evaluate the required practical: Investigate the motion of everyday objects such as toy cars or tennis balls, measuring distance and time to determine speed and acceleration.
How it is examined
- Multiple-choice and short-answer recall
- Calculations using the specification's relationships
- Extended open-response applying the physics to an unfamiliar situation
- Practical questions on method, variables, results and sources of error
Common mistakes
- Reading the gradient of a distance–time graph and calling it acceleration. On a distance–time graph the gradient is speed.
- Finding distance from a velocity–time graph by reading a value instead of finding the area.
- Using v = u + at when time is not given — v² = u² + 2as exists precisely for that case.
- Treating a negative gradient on a velocity–time graph as 'going backwards'. It is deceleration.
This page maps the specification. The pages above teach it, and the Physics lessons hold the whole course — completely free.