Glossary

Distance Total path travelled measured in metres

Displacement Distance of direct path from start point to end point.
Measured in metres and direction given
gradient A measurement of the steepness of the slope of a graph.
The steeper the graph, the higher the gradient.
magnitude A measure of how big something is.
speed A measure of the distance an object travels in a given time.
Usually measured in metres per second (m/s).

Scalar A quantity that has only size. Distance and Speed are
scalars.
vector A quantity that has a size and a direction. Force and velocity
are examples of vectors. Speed, mass and
Volume are not vectors.
velocity The speed of an object in a particular direction.
Usually measured in metres per second (m/s).

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Average distance
Speed = time measured in metres/second (m/s)

v = s/t

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Average displacement
Velocity = time measured in metres/second (m/s)

v = s/t

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Δ in velocity a ( m/s2 ) velocity (m/s)

Acceleration = time taken t (s)

a=v–u
t
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 1. Goldie Goldfish, a speed swimmer, loves to race around the park’s pond, which is 500m
around. What is her average speed for 1 lap if time taken is 1 minute and 20 seconds?,
What is her average velocity for 1 lap?

2. It takes Stu, a slimy slug, 20 minutes to travel from his favorite bush to the local rubbish
bin (a trip of 30 meters), how far can he travel in 1 hour (60 minutes)?

3. At exactly 2:00 pm, Speedy the Snail crawls onto a meter stick at the 10 cm mark. If he
reaches the 65 cm mark at exactly 2:10 pm, what is his speed?

4. Andrew and Michael decide to have a race. Andrew knows that he is faster than Michael,
so he says that he’ll take a longer route to the finish line. Instead of going straight from
point A to C, he goes via point B on the way. Michael takes the direct, as shown on the
diagram below:

Michael takes 5 seconds to reach point C. Andrew takes 6.2 seconds.

What is:
a) Michael’s speed? Michael’s velocity? (Don’t forget to include direction)

b) Andrew’s speed? Andrew’s velocity?

Solve the following problems. Show all your work and remember to include the correct units.

1. A student practicing for a track meet ran 250 m in 30 sec.

a. What was her average speed?

b. If on the following day she ran 300 m in 30 sec, by how much did her speed increase?

2. A car travelled 1025 km from Queensland to Victoria in 13.5 hr. What was its average
speed in m/s?

3. How fast was a plane flying if it travelled 400 km in 30 min (Remember Units)?

4. A student walks 10 blocks to a computer store (Assume all the blocks are equal length.)
a. How long will it take him to reach the computer store if he walks 3 blocks in 2 min?

b. What is his average speed?

5. If the average speed a car is 45 km/hr, how far can it travel in 40 min?

6. The speed of light is 3 X 108 m/sec. How long does it take light to travel the 149 X 109 m
distance from the sun to the Earth?