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Chapter – 8
Motion
SPEED
Speed of a body is the distance travelled by it in per unit time.
Speed is a scalar quantity. It does not have any directions.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 = 𝒊. 𝒆. 𝒗 = where v = speed; s = distance travelled; t = time taken
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕

The S.I. unit of speed is metres per second (m/s or ms–1) .

Example: A car is travels a distance of 123 km in 3 hours, then the speed of this car is given by:-
123 km
Speed = = 41 km/hr
3 hours

The speed in an automobile is measured by an instrument called ‘speedometer’ and distance travelled is
measured by an instrument known as ‘odometer’.
 To convert speed in km/hr to m/s, multiply by 1000/3600 i.e. 5/18
 To convert speed in m/s to km/hr, multiply by 3600/1000 i.e. 18/5

Average & Instantaneous Speed

When we say that the speed of car is 60 km/hr, we generally mean either average speed or instantaneous speed.
The average speed of a body is the total distance travelled divided by the body total time taken to cover this
distance, while instantaneous speed refers to the speed at a particular point of time or over a very short period of time.
It becomes very difficult to maintain a constant speed during travel because at many places the brakes are to be
applied to slow down or stop the car due to various reasons. Thus, the speed of a body is usually not constant and the distance
travelled divided by time gives us the average speed during that time.

𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅

𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 =
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏
When a car travels 123 km in 3 hours or with a speed of 41 km/hr, then it does not mean that it travels with this
speed all the time. It is the average speed of the car.
When we say that car is right now travelling at 41 km/hr, we mean instantaneous speed.

Uniform and Non uniform Speed

A body is said to possess uniform speed if it travels equal distances in equal intervals of time, no matter how small
these time intervals may be. The graph of uniform speed is drawn as a straight line. (Refer to graphs on page 1)
However, if the body covers equal distances in unequal intervals of time or unequal distances in equal intervals in
time, it is said to possess non uniform speed. The graph of non uniform speed is drawn as a curve.
Example: A car is said to have uniform speed of say 50 km/hr if it travels 25 km every half hour, 12.5 km every
quarter of an hour and so on. If we know that an object is moving with a uniform speed than we can find the exact distance
at all time intervals under consideration.

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VELOCITY
The displacement of a body per unit time over a short interval is called velocity OR It can also be defined as distance
travelled per unit time in a definite direction.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝐬
𝑽𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝑶𝑹 𝒗 =
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝐭

where, v = velocity of the body; s = displacement produced; t = time taken

The SI unit of velocity is the same as that of speed, namely, metres per second (m/s).
Velocity is vector quantity. The direction of velocity is the same as the direction of displacement of the body.

Uniform Velocity
A body has a uniform velocity if it travels in a specified direction in a straight line and moves over equal distances
in equal intervals of time, no matter how small these time intervals may be.

The velocity of a body can be changed in two ways:-

1. By changing the speed of the body, or
2. By keeping the speed constant but changing the direction or by changing both.

The magnitude of speed and velocity of a moving body is equal only if the body moves in a single straight line. If,
however, a body does not move in a straight line, then speed and velocity of the body are not equal.
Average velocity
If the velocity of a body is always changing, but changing at a uniform rate, then the average velocity is given by
the “arithmetic mean” of the initial and final velocity for a given period of time, that is:
𝑰𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 + 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒖 + 𝒗
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝒊. 𝒆. 𝑽𝒂𝒗𝒈
𝟐 𝟐

SPEED VELOCITY
1. Speed of a body is distance travelled by it in per unit 1. Velocity of a body is displacement of a body in per
time. unit time.
2. Speed is a scalar quantity. It has no direction. 2. Velocity is vector quantity. It has direction also.

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Henry David Thoreau

Exercise – 2
One Mark Questions
1. What is the SI unit of speed and velocity?
2. Name the physical quantity which gives us an idea of how slow or fast a body is moving.
3. What name is given to the speed in a specified direction?
4. Define velocity.
5. When is a body said to have uniform velocity?
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6. Which of the two can be zero under certain conditions: Average speed of a moving body or velocity?
7. Give an example of a situation in which a body has a certain average speed but its average velocity is 0.
8. The physical quantity which gives both, the speed and direction of motion of a body is called its ……
9. Under which condition is the magnitude of average velocity equal to average speed? (NCERT)
10. An object starts with initial velocity u attains a final velocity, v. The velocity of the object is changing at uniform rate.
Write the formula for calculating the average velocity, Vavg.

Two Marks Questions

1. Differentiate between (i) Speed and velocity; (NCERT)
(ii) Average speed and Instantaneous speed.
2. What type of motion, uniform or non-uniform, is exhibited by a freely falling body? Give reason.
3. State whether speed is a scalar or vector quantity. Give reasons for your choice.

Three Marks Questions

1. (i) Write differences between speed and velocity.
(ii) The speed of a moving object is x m/s, while its velocity is y m/s. What is the similarity observed?
(iii) What may be the difference in above case?

NUMERICALS
1. Convert the following speeds in m/s: (i) 54 km/h; (ii) 300 m/min; (iii) 6 km/min
2. Convert the following speeds in km/hr: (i) 10 m/s; (ii) 6 m/s; (iii) 300 m/min
3. Bus X travels a distance of 360 km in 5 hours whereas bus Y travels a distance of 476 km in 7 hours. Which bus travels
faster?
4. Arrange the following speeds in increasing order: An athlete running with a speed of 10 m/s; A bicycle moving with
a speed of 400 m/min; A scooter moving with a speed of 30 km/h.
5. Tin Tin walks across a room of length 9 m with a velocity of one and half kilometre per hour. Express the velocity in
m/s and find the time taken by him to move across the room.
6. Tom is running behind Jerry on a straight path. Tom is running with speed of 27 km/h, while Jerry is running with
the speed of 10 m/s. Will Tom be able to catch Jerry, if they continue to run on the same path with same speeds?
7. During an experiment, a signal from a spaceship reached the ground station in five minutes. What was the distance
of the spaceship from the ground? The signal travels at the speed of light, i.e. 3 x 108 m/s. (NCERT)
8. A car is moving with a velocity of 120 km/hr. How much distance will it able to move in 45 seconds?
9. The odometer of a car reads 2000 km at the start of a trip and 2400 km at the end of the trip. If the trip took 8 hrs,
calculate the average speed of the car in km/h and m/s. (NCERT)
10. Rajeev went from Delhi to Chandigarh on his motorbike. The odometer of the motorbike read 4200 km at the start
of the trip and 4460 km at the end of his trip. If Rajeev took 4 h 20 minutes to complete his trip, find his average
speed in km/h and in m/s.
11. Joseph jogs from one end A to the other end B of a straight 300 m road in 2 minutes 30 seconds and then turns
around and jogs 100 m back to point C in another 1 minute. What are the Joseph’s average speeds and velocities in
jogging: (a) From A to B and (b) From A to C ? (NCERT)
12. Usha swims in a 90 m long pool. She covers 180 m in one minute by swimming from one end to the other and back
along the same straight path. Find the average speed and average velocity of Usha. (NCERT)
13. An object travels 16 m in 4 s and then another 16 m in 2 s. What is the average speed of the object? (NCERT)

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14. A bus travels a distance of 120 km with a speed of 40 km/h and returns with a speed of 30 km/h. Calculate the
average speed for the whole journey.
15. A car travels 100 km at a speed of 60 km/h and returns with a speed of 40 km/h. Calculate the average speed for
the whole journey.
16. A train travels the first 15 km at a uniform speed of 30 km/h; the next 75 km at a uniform speed of 50 km/h; and
the last 10 km at a uniform speed of 20 km/h. Calculate the average speed for the entire train journey.
17. A bus covers a distance of 250 km from Delhi to Jaipur towards West in 5 hours in the morning and returns to Delhi
in the evening covering the same distance of 250 km in the same time of 5 hours. Find (a) average speed, and (b)
average velocity, of the bus for the whole journey.
18. A motorcyclist drives from A to B with a uniform speed of 30 km/h and returns back with a speed of 20 km/h. Find
its average speed. (Exemplar)
19. A man covers the distance between two points P and Q at an average speed of 60 km/h and returns at the average
speed of 90 km/h. Calculate his average speed for the entire to and fro journey.
20. Chutki while driving to school, computes the average speed for her trip to be 20 km/h. On her return trip, along the
same route, there is less traffic and the average speed is 30 km/h. What is the average speed for Chutki’s trip?
(NCERT)

Answers to Numericals
1. (i) 15 m/s; (ii) 5 m/s; (iii) 100 m/s 2. (i)36 km/h; (ii)21.6 km/h; (iii)18 km/h
3. X = 72 km/h, Y = 68 km/h 4. SBicycle < Sscooter < Sathlete
5. 0.42 m/s; 21.4 s 6. No 7. 9 x 107 km 8. 1.5 km
9. 50 km/h, 13.9 m/s 10. 60 km/h, 16.67 m/s 11. (i) 2m/s, 2m/s; (ii) 1.9m/s, 0.95m/s
12. 3 m/s, 0 m/s 13. 5.33 m/s 14. 34.3 km/h 15. 48 km/h
16. 40 km/h 17. 50 km/h, 0 km/hr 18. 24 km/h 19. 72 km/h
20. 24 km/h

Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving.

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