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2.2 Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

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88 views3 pages

2.2 Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

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mike
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Motion Along a Straight Line https://edugen.wileyplus.com/edugen/courses/crs11476/ebook/c02/hallid...

2.2 INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY AND SPEED


Instantaneous Velocity
You have now seen two ways to describe how fast something moves: average velocity and average speed, both
of which are measured over a time interval Δt. However, the phrase “how fast” more commonly refers to how
fast a particle is moving at a given instant—its instantaneous velocity (or simply velocity) v.
The velocity at any instant is obtained from the average velocity by shrinking the time interval Δt closer and
closer to 0. As Δt shrinks, the average velocity approaches a limiting value, which is the velocity at that instant:

(2.2.1)
This says that v is the rate at which position x is changing with time at a given instant; that is, v is the derivative
of the position function x(t) with respect to t. On a graph of x versus t, this means that v at any instant is the
slope of the curve at the point representing that instant. If the slope is negative, so is the velocity; if it is
positive, so is the velocity; and if it is zero, so is the velocity. Velocity is another vector quantity and thus has an
associated direction, namely, the direction in which the particle is traveling at that instant.

Speed
Speed is the magnitude of velocity; that is, speed is velocity that has been stripped of any indication of
direction, either in words or via an algebraic sign. (Caution: Speed and average speed can be quite different.) A
velocity of +5 m/s and one of −5 m/s both have an associated speed of 5 m/s. The speedometer in a car
measures speed, not velocity (it does not determine the direction).
Learning Objectives
After reading this module, you should be able to …
2.2.1Given a particle's position as a function of time, calculate the instantaneous velocity for any particular
time.
2.2.2Given a graph of a particle's position versus time, determine the instantaneous velocity for any
particular time.
2.2.3Identify speed as the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity.

Key Ideas
Here are the Key Ideas in this module. Below we will use them in the Examples.
•The instantaneous velocity (or simply velocity) v of a moving particle is

()
where Δx = x1 − x0 and Δt = t1 − t0.
•The instantaneous velocity (at a particular time) may be found as the slope (at that particular time) of the

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Motion Along a Straight Line https://edugen.wileyplus.com/edugen/courses/crs11476/ebook/c02/hallid...

graph of x versus t.
•Speed is the magnitude of instantaneous velocity.

Example 2.2.1 Sample ProblemVelocity and slope of x versus t , elevator


cab
This problem deals with the graphical relation between position and velocity.
Let an x axis extend upward along the path of an elevator cab. This next figure is an x(t) plot for a cab that is
initially stationary, then moves up along that axis, and then stops. (The plot is a slanted straight line in the time
interval 3.0 s to 8.0 s.)

Example 2.2.1 Figure 1

We want to plot the cab's velocity function v(t) for this motion.

KEY IDEA
The velocity at any given time is equal to the slope of the x(t) plot at that time.
This next figure is the graph of velocity v versus t that includes our results and also an assumption that the
connections in the intervals 1 s to 3 s and 8 s to 9 s are straight lines (which is difficult to tell from the given x(t)
plot).

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Motion Along a Straight Line https://edugen.wileyplus.com/edugen/courses/crs11476/ebook/c02/hallid...

Example 2.2.1 Figure 2

Example 2.2.2 Sample ProblemPosition function, velocity, and momentary


stop
This is a simple problem once you see the technique.
A particle moves along an x axis as given by the position function (in meters and seconds)

()
for time t > 0.

KEY IDEA
The velocity v of a particle at any instant is the time derivative of its position function x(t) at that instant:

()
An instructor could make this example harder by asking for only this last quantity. You would then have to
realize that you needed to find the velocity function, the time of momentary stopping, and then finally the
position for the momentary stopping.

Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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