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Understanding Speed and Velocity

Speed is the rate at which an object changes its location and is calculated by dividing the distance traveled by the time it took to travel that distance. Velocity includes both speed and direction of motion. Speed is a scalar quantity while velocity is a vector quantity. An example calculates the speed of a female sprinter running 200m in 24.42 seconds as 9.53 m/s. Velocity is defined as displacement over time and an example calculates the average eastward velocity of a 3000km trip taking 10 hours as 300 km/h east.

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139 views1 page

Understanding Speed and Velocity

Speed is the rate at which an object changes its location and is calculated by dividing the distance traveled by the time it took to travel that distance. Velocity includes both speed and direction of motion. Speed is a scalar quantity while velocity is a vector quantity. An example calculates the speed of a female sprinter running 200m in 24.42 seconds as 9.53 m/s. Velocity is defined as displacement over time and an example calculates the average eastward velocity of a 3000km trip taking 10 hours as 300 km/h east.

Uploaded by

Marygay Cabanilla Zate
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is Speed?

A description of how fast or slow an object moves is its speed. It is the rate at which an
object changes its location. Like distance, speed is a scalar quantity because it only
considers magnitude but not direction. Average speed is the distance travelled divided by the time
it takes to travel the distance. The SI unit of speed is meters per second (m/s), but other units of
speed such as kilometers per hour (km/h) or miles per hour (mph) are sometimes used.

As an equation, speed is shown as:

d where:
 = v = speed
t d = distance covered
t = time of travel
Example 1
Elma Muros, the fastest female sprinter in Southeast Asia, can run a 200-m distance course
in 24.42 seconds. What is Elma’s speed?

Given: d = 200 m
t = 24.42 s
Find: v = ?
d
Solution:  =
t
100 m
 =
10. 49 s
 = 9.53 m/s

What is Velocity?

Sometimes, describing the speed of the object requires direction. Velocity describes the
speed and direction of an object Velocity, like speed, has SI units of meters per second (m/s),
kilometers per hour (km/h), or miles per hour (mph) but because it is a vector, the direction of
the motion is included. Like speed, you can describe either the average velocity over a time
period or the velocity at a specific moment (instantaneous velocity). Average velocity is
displacement divided by the time over which the displacement occurs.
Thus,

d where:
 = v = velocity
t int d = displacement
tt = time interval

Example 2
Leighmar drove to the city to pick up a friend. She went 3000 km east in about 10 hours.
Calculate her velocity.

Given: d = 3000 km, east


t = 10 hours
Find: v = ?

Solution:
d
Equation: vave =
t int
d
Solution: vave =
t int
3000 𝑘𝑚,𝐸
vave =
10 ℎ𝑟
vave = 300 km/h, E

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