Using a motion sensor, with a ball attached to a string hanging from the ceiling

Question

Using a motion sensor, with a ball attached to a string hanging from the ceiling I've graphed position (y axis) versus time (x axis). The values I have are time t in seconds, position R in meters, horizontal velocity vx, horizontal displacement x and y the vertical position of the ball. I need to add a column for the vertical velocity and the instructions say to use the equation derivative x. Would the equation I input into the equation field be "x"y? How would I calculate the magnitude of the net velocity?

Explanation / Answer

find the slope of the graph at the point in question; if the graph is not a straight line, consider a very small region around the time in question, so for instance if you want to find the instantaneous velocity at t=2s, find the position at t=2.1 and 1.9 secs, and then you have that inst vel = (position at t=2.1s-position at t=1.9s)/(2.1s-1.9s) remember that slope is rise/run, or change in vertical axis/horizontal axis in a position vs time graph, this means the slope is change in position/time which gives instantaneous velocity

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