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PH-125 Applied Physics

Lecture – 3
Speed and Velocity

Average Speed
 The average speed of the particle is defined as the
ratio of this distance and the time taken
 In the SI system, the unit of speed is the meter per
second (m/s)

 In practice, the speed of automobiles, aircraft, and

other everyday objects is often measured in kilometres
per hour (km/h):

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Average Speed

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Average Speed

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Average Speed

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Average Speed
 Motion and speed are relative; the value of the speed
depends on the frame of reference with respect to
which it is calculated
 Questions regarding speed are meaningless unless the
frame of reference is first specified.
 In everyday language, “speed” often means speed
relative to the Earth’s surface

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Average Speed

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line

 Motion along a straight line means motion in one

dimension
 For convenience, we will assume that the straight line
coincides with the x axis
 In mathematical language, this means that the x
coordinate is a function of time

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line
 Graphically, we can represent the motion by means of
a plot of the x coordinate vs. the time coordinate.
 An automobile that starts from rest, accelerates along
a straight road for 10 seconds, and then brakes and
comes to a full stop 4.3 seconds later

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line
 Suppose that at time t1 the automobile is at position x1,
and at a subsequent time t2 the automobile is at
position x2 (see Fig. 2.6).
 Then x2 - x1 is the change of position that occurs in the
time interval t2 - t1.

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line
 The average velocity is defined as the ratio of this
change of position and the time

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line
 Graphically, in the plot of position vs. time, the
average velocity is the ratio of the vertical separation
between the points P1 and P2 and the horizontal
separation.
 The ratio of the vertical separation and the horizontal
separation between any two points on this line is the
slope of the line.

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Positive or Negative Slope

 The velocity is positive or negative depending on
whether x2 is larger or smaller than x1, that is,
depending on whether the x coordinate increases or
decreases in the time interval t2 - t1.
 This means that the sign of the velocity depends on the
direction of motion

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Positive or Negative Slope

 Hence, Speed and Velocity are not the same thing,
because Speed is always positive, whereas velocity is
positive or negative depending on the direction of
motion.
 Furthermore, if the motion has one portion in the
positive x, direction and another portion in the
negative x direction, then it is possible for the average
velocity to be zero even though the average speed is
not zero

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Average Velocity For Motion Along a

Straight Line

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Vector Addition

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Revision Quiz: Q1

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Revision Quiz: Q2 and 3

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Revision Quiz: Q4 and 5

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Revision Quiz: Q6 and 7

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 1

 Since a moving automobile or a moving particle does not
cover any distance in one instant, it is not immediately
obvious how we should define the instantaneous velocity?
 Only in the exceptional case: for a particle moving
uniformly (with constant velocity), instantaneous velocity
coincides with the average velocity.

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 1

 We can see this from an examination of the plot of
position vs. time. If a particle moves at constant velocity,
the plot of position vs. time is a straight line, with a slope
equal to the velocity.
 For example, Fig. 2.8 shows a plot of position vs. time for
an automobile moving along a straight road at a constant
velocity of 25 m/s.

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 2

 For instantaneous velocity, at instant t = 4s. We can find
an approximate value at this instant by taking a small
time interval of, say, 0.10 s centred on 4 s, i.e., a time
interval from 3.95 s to 4.05 s.

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 2

 In this time interval the automobile covers some small
distance Δx, and we can approximate the actual (curved)
plot of position vs. time by a straight line segment
connecting the endpoints of the interval

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 3

 In the limiting case of extremely small time intervals
(infinitesimal time intervals), the line segment has the
direction of the tangent that touches the plot at the point
t = 4s.

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 3

 Hence the instantaneous velocity at any given time
equals the slope of the tangent that touches the plot at
that time. e.g., drawing the tangent that touches the
plot at t = 4 s and measuring its slope on the graph

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Instantaneous Velocity: Case 3

 By drawing tangents at other points of the plot and
measuring their slopes, we can obtain a complete table of
values of instantaneous velocities at different times.

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Instantaneous Velocity
 Figure 2.11 is a plot of the results of such a
determination of the instantaneous velocities.
 The velocity is initially zero (zero slope in Fig. 2.10),
then increases to a maximum of 34.9 m/s at t = 10.0s
(maximum slope in Fig. 2.10), and finally decreases to
zero at t = 14.3 s (zero slope in Fig. 2.10).

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Instantaneous Velocity: Numerical Solution

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Instantaneous Velocity

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