A skateboarder starts from rest and pushes along a straight, flat path. For the first part of the journey the skateboarder accelerates, then travels at a constant velocity, and finally decelerates to a stop. Describe what a velocity-time graph of the entire journey would look like, referring to the gradient and the area under the line.

The graph consists of three straight‑line sections.
1. From the origin to a point where the velocity first reaches its maximum, the line rises with a positive gradient – this represents uniform acceleration from rest.
2. From that point to the next, the line is horizontal (zero gradient) – this shows the skateboarder moving at constant velocity.
3. From the end of the horizontal section to the point where the velocity returns to zero, the line falls with a negative gradient – this represents uniform deceleration.
The area under the whole curve equals the total distance travelled.