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IB Exam Practice · Hard Paper 2 & 3 Questions: distance vs displacement · part 01

Distance vs Displacement in 6 Minutes (10-Mark Paper 2 Breakdown)

Distance vs Displacement in 6 Minutes (10-Mark Paper 2 Breakdown)

A ten mark Paper 2 style kinematics question, broken down mark by mark: when a particle changes direction, why maximum speed is not maximum velocity, and why total distance needs the absolute value. Calculator steps included. For IB Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, SL and HL.

In this lesson

  1. 0:00 The question
  2. 0:20 Four words
  3. 1:05 Step zero: graph it
  4. 1:27 Part (a): changes direction
  5. 2:09 Part (b): acceleration
  6. 2:45 Part (c): maximum speed
  7. 3:31 Part (d): total distance
  8. 4:17 What earns the marks
  9. 5:01 Your turn
  10. 5:30 Recap
  11. 5:55 Next Saturday
Answers to the practice questions at the end of the video
  1. v changes sign three times, at t = 0.301, 1.48 and 2.98 [2]; distance = ∫|v| dt from 0 to 4 = 7.41 m [2].
  2. Displacement = ∫ v dt from 0 to 4 = 3.20 m [2]; distance = ∫|v| dt from 0 to 4 = 7.72 m [2].

Questions are original, in the style of the exam; marks are estimates.

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