Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
Distance: When an object moves, it goes from point A to point B – that is the DISTANCE it
traveled. (SI unit is the meter)
Displacement: Knowing how far something moves is not sufficient. You must also know in
what direction the object moved. A quantity that has magnitude and direction is called …..
vector
Distance & Displacement
Distance refers to the total length of travel irrespective of the direction of the motion.
It is a scalar quantity. SI unit: metre (m)
Other common units: kilometre (km), centimetre (cm)
Displacement refers to the distance moved in a particular direction. It is the object's overall
change in position.
It is a vector quantity. SI unit: metre (m) Other common units: kilometre (km), centimetre (cm)
Speed: Calculating Speed; If you know the distance an object travels in a certain amount of time,
you can calculate the speed of the object.
Speed = Distance/time Average speed = Total distance/Total time
Velocity: Velocity is a description of an object’s speed and direction. It is a vector.
Speed vs Velocity: 1. How are speed and velocity similar? They both measure how fast
something is moving
2. How are speed and velocity different? Velocity includes the direction of motion and speed
does not (the car is moving 5mph East)
3. Is velocity more like distance or displacement? Why? Displacement, because both are vectors
which include an amount and a direction.
Speed is the rate of change of distance. It is a scalar quantity.
Speed= Distance travelled/ time taken
Velocity is the distance travelled in a specific direction.
It is also defined as the rate of change of displacement. It is a vector quantity
Velocity = change in displacement/time taken
When evaluating the velocity of an object, one must keep track of direction.
The direction of the velocity vector is the same as the direction which an object is moving. (It
would not matter whether the object is speeding up or slowing down.)
For example:
If an object is moving rightwards, then its velocity is described as being rightwards.
Average Speed = Total distance travelled /Total time taken
An object is moving in a circle at a constant speed of 10 m /s. We say that it has a constant speed
but its velocity is not constant. Why? The direction of the object keeps changing.
Acceleration:
An object whose velocity is changing is said to accelerate
If the direction and / or speed of a moving object changes, the object is accelerating
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity
Acceleration can result from a change in speed (increase or decrease), a change in direction
(back, forth, up, down left, right), or changes in both. Like velocity, acceleration is a vector.
• The pitcher throws. The ball speeds toward the batter. Off the bat it goes. It’s going, going,
gone! A home run! • Before landing, the ball went through several changes in motion. It sped up
in the pitcher’s hand, and lost speed as it traveled toward the batter. The ball stopped when it hit
the bat, changed direction, sped up again, and eventually slowed down. Most examples of motion
involve similar changes. In fact, rarely does any object’s motion stay the same for very long.
Understanding Acceleration:
As the ball falls from the boy’s hand, how does its speed change?
2. What happens to the speed of the ball as it rises from the ground back to her hand?
3. At what point does the ball have zero velocity?
4. How does the velocity of the ball change when it bounces on the floor?
You can feel acceleration!
If you’re moving at 500 kmh east without turbulence, there is no acceleration.
But if the plane hits an air pocket and drops 500 m in 2 seconds, there is a large change in
acceleration and you will feel that! It does not matter whether you speed up or slow down; it is
still considered a change in acceleration.
In science, acceleration refers to increasing speed, decreasing speed, or changing direction.
Calculating Acceleration Acceleration = Change in velocity /Total time
Change in velocity = final velocity-initial velocity
OR.. = final speed-initial speed
So…Acceleration = (Final speed – Initial speed) / Time
Calculating Acceleration
As a roller-coaster car starts down a slope, its speed is 4 m/s. But 3 seconds later, at the bottom,
its speed is 22 m/s. What is its average acceleration? What information have you been given?
Initial speed = 4 m/s Final Speed = 22 m/s Time = 3 s
Acceleration = (Final speed – Initial speed)/Time Perform the calculation.
Acceleration = (22 m/s – 4 m/s)/3 s = 18 m/s/3 s
Acceleration = 6 m/s2
The roller-coaster car’s average acceleration is 6 m/s2.
