velocity and speed compare and contrast
Velocity
The word, velocity, originates from the Latin word, vēlōcitās, meaning swiftness or speed. Velocity is one of the basic words used in mathematics and physics and forms the basis for the more important formulae used in high level study of these subjects.
According to the dictionary, the definition of velocity is the rate of change of position of an object. In simple words, velocity means the distance travelled by an object over some time divided by the time taken by the object to travel this distance. Velocity is also a vector quantity which means that it has both direction and magnitude. Magnitude means the size or extent of something. An example would help us learn better what velocity and vector mean. For example, if an object is traveling in the north-south direction at 55mph, its velocity will be 55mph in the south direction. There is a common misconception that speed and velocity are the same thing. but this is not true. Speed is a scalar quantity, meaning that it only has size and no direction. This is the most essential difference between speed and velocity. Thus, velocity is an equivalent of speed but just with the direction i.e. velocity without the direction would be called speed.
Velocity can be divided into two types depending upon the use of the type. The two types are Instantaneous velocity and Average velocity. Instantaneous velocity means the velocity at a single point of time. For example if a car is moving at 40 km/h in the west direction and we have been asked to find the instantaneous velocity, the velocity of the car at that second, for example, at 10:40:30, velocity at the 30th second of 10:40 will be called instantaneous velocity. So basically, the speed that a speedometer reads at a given instant is called the instantaneous velocity. Average velocity on the other hand, is the velocity of the car over a period of time. For example, a bus travels 100 km from 9am to 11am i.e. in two hours. Thus, the average velocity for
The word, velocity, originates from the Latin word, vēlōcitās, meaning swiftness or speed. Velocity is one of the basic words used in mathematics and physics and forms the basis for the more important formulae used in high level study of these subjects.
According to the dictionary, the definition of velocity is the rate of change of position of an object. In simple words, velocity means the distance travelled by an object over some time divided by the time taken by the object to travel this distance. Velocity is also a vector quantity which means that it has both direction and magnitude. Magnitude means the size or extent of something. An example would help us learn better what velocity and vector mean. For example, if an object is traveling in the north-south direction at 55mph, its velocity will be 55mph in the south direction. There is a common misconception that speed and velocity are the same thing. but this is not true. Speed is a scalar quantity, meaning that it only has size and no direction. This is the most essential difference between speed and velocity. Thus, velocity is an equivalent of speed but just with the direction i.e. velocity without the direction would be called speed.
Velocity can be divided into two types depending upon the use of the type. The two types are Instantaneous velocity and Average velocity. Instantaneous velocity means the velocity at a single point of time. For example if a car is moving at 40 km/h in the west direction and we have been asked to find the instantaneous velocity, the velocity of the car at that second, for example, at 10:40:30, velocity at the 30th second of 10:40 will be called instantaneous velocity. So basically, the speed that a speedometer reads at a given instant is called the instantaneous velocity. Average velocity on the other hand, is the velocity of the car over a period of time. For example, a bus travels 100 km from 9am to 11am i.e. in two hours. Thus, the average velocity for