A distance–time graph has two axes. The vertical axis (going up and down) shows the distance traveled, while the horizontal axis (going side to side) shows the time that has passed.

The two axes meet at a single point called the origin. As you move from the origin up the vertical axis, the distance traveled increases. As you move from the origin along the horizontal axis, the amount of time passed increases. People use distance–time graphs to see how far a person, bike, car, train—really, anything that moves—has traveled over a certain amount of time.

A single point on the graph can show where a moving object is at a certain moment. Look at the point on the graph to the left. It lines up with 1 hour on the horizontal axis and 5 miles on the vertical axis. So if this graph represented a person's trip, that person would have traveled 5 miles in 1 hour.