Higher Physical Education (PE) Practice Exam

In performance analysis, GPS provides data on distance, speed, and position by tracking an athlete’s location over time, letting us see how far they travel, how fast they move, and the path they take. Accelerometers measure the body’s accelerations along different axes, which reveals movement patterns and the overall load or intensity of the activity. This combination gives a complete picture: GPS captures external work—distance, speed, and trajectory—while accelerometers quantify movement magnitude and loading. Other data like heart rate, breathing rate, calories, or steps aren’t the primary outputs of this pairing, and while velocity can be inferred from accelerations, it isn’t the accelerometer’s direct measurement; GPS provides the velocity data directly, and altitude is only one aspect of position rather than the full suite of data available.