EXAMPLE OF INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY

The position of a particle moving along x is given by x(t) = 3.0t + 0.5t3 with time in
seconds and position x in m.
A. Find the Instantaneous velocity at 2.0 s.
B. Calculate the average velocity between 1.0 s to 3.0 s.
SOLUTION: x(t) = 3.0t + 0.5t3 @ t = 1.0 s
= 3.0 (1.0) + 0.5 (1.0) 3
A. We can calculate the instantaneous velocity at
= 3.5 m
a specific time by taking the derivative of the
x(t) = 3.0t + 0.5t3 @ t = 3.0 s
position function, which gives us the functional
= 3.0(3) + 0.5(3)3
form of instantaneous velocity v(t).
= 22.5 m
x(t) = 3.0t + 0.5t3 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖
From the formula: V ave =
V(t) = 3.0 + 1.5 t2 @ t = 2.0 s 𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖
𝟐𝟐.𝟓 𝒎 − 𝟑.𝟓 𝒎
V(t) = 3.0 + 1.5 (2.0) 2 =
𝟑.𝟎 𝒔 −𝟏.𝟎 𝒔
V(t) = 9 m/s = 9.5 m/s
B. To determine the average velocity of the The average velocity between 1.0 s to 3.0 s is 9.5
particle between 1.0 s and 3.0 s, we calculate the m/s.
values of x(1.0 s) and x(3.0 s):
ACTIVITY 3. DISPLACEMENT TIME AVERAGE VELOCITY
INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY

ANSWER ALL THE PROBLEM GIVEN:

1. CALCULATE THE VELOCITY OF PATHS A, B, C AND D.

24

20

16

B
12 E

8 A C

4
D

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
2. Draw the position –time graph using the following data.

d km) 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.2 3.2 4.2 5.2 5.7 5.8 5.8
t (h) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

DETERMINE HOW FAST THE OBJECT MOVING AFTER:

A. 0.10 HOUR
B. 0.50 HOUR
C. 1.00 HOUR
DETEMINE THE AVERAGE VELOCITY FOR:
A. THE FIRST 0.5 HR
B. THE LAST 0.5 HR
C. THE LAST 1 HR.

3. FIND THE MAGNITUDE OF A VECTOR IF ITS ANGLE, FROM THE HORIZONTAL IS 40 DEG
WHILE THE VERTICAL COMPONENT IS 25 M/S.
4. THE POSITION OF THE PARTICLE MOVING ALONG THE X – AXIS IS GIVEN BY X(t) = 3.0 t 2 + 5;
WITH TIME IN SECONDS AND POSITION X IN m.

a. The average velocity from t = 1.0 s to 3.0 s.

b. Instantaneous velocity at t = 1.0 s.
c. Instantaneous velocity at t = 2.0 s.
d. Instantaneous velocity at t = 3.0 s.