How does delta time help enable frame-rate independent movement?

How does delta time help enable frame-rate independent movement?

• A. By capping the frame rate at a fixed value.
• B. By pooling resources to prevent frame drops.
• C. By scaling updates by deltaTime.
• D. By rendering at higher resolution.

Answer: (C)

Delta time is the amount of real time that has passed since the last frame. By multiplying the object's velocity (how far it should move each second) by deltaTime, you compute the distance to move in that frame. This keeps movement consistent across different frame rates: if the frame takes longer, deltaTime is larger and you move more that frame; if frames render quickly, deltaTime is smaller and you move less. Over a second, the total distance moved stays about velocity units, making it frame-rate independent. For example, with a velocity of 5 units per second, at 60 FPS deltaTime is about 0.0167 seconds, so you move about 0.0833 units that frame; at 30 FPS deltaTime is about 0.0333 seconds, so you move about 0.1667 units that frame, totaling roughly 5 units per second in both cases. The other options don’t affect how far objects move per second; capping the frame rate just limits fps, pooling resources affects performance, and rendering at higher resolution affects image quality, not movement timing.

Delta time is the amount of real time that has passed since the last frame. By multiplying the object's velocity (how far it should move each second) by deltaTime, you compute the distance to move in that frame. This keeps movement consistent across different frame rates: if the frame takes longer, deltaTime is larger and you move more that frame; if frames render quickly, deltaTime is smaller and you move less. Over a second, the total distance moved stays about velocity units, making it frame-rate independent. For example, with a velocity of 5 units per second, at 60 FPS deltaTime is about 0.0167 seconds, so you move about 0.0833 units that frame; at 30 FPS deltaTime is about 0.0333 seconds, so you move about 0.1667 units that frame, totaling roughly 5 units per second in both cases. The other options don’t affect how far objects move per second; capping the frame rate just limits fps, pooling resources affects performance, and rendering at higher resolution affects image quality, not movement timing.