Therefore, the average velocity is 803 = 20 km per hour towards the east. But when you calculate the displacement of the car, the net displacement is 80 ×2 – 80 × 1 = 80 km towards east. Therefore, the average speed is 1803 = 80 km per hour. Now the total distance travelled is 80 × 2 + 80 × 1 = 180 km and the total time has taken is 3 hours.
![define average speed define average speed](https://www.onlinemath4all.com/images/constantspeed1.png)
Take for example a car is travelling towards the east at a speed of 80 km per hour for 2 hours and at the same speed for one hour but in the direction of west, which is opposite direction to earlier. Let us take another example to get a better understanding of this concept. Time will always be a scalar quantity and the direction of displacement will be the direction of velocity.
![define average speed define average speed](https://media.cheggcdn.com/media%2Fa47%2Fa47d75a4-8bdb-418f-955e-6d9874c5f7f5%2Fimage.png)
Whereas if we say that a car is running at a speed of 80 miles per hour towards the northeast then we are referring to its velocity. Now, for example, we talk about a car running at a speed of 80 miles per hour with no reference to its direction then we are talking about its speed. Speed is a quantity which is scalar and velocity is a vector quantity. Previously we explained what speed is and what is velocity and what is the difference between the two. For example, if an object has different velocities v 1, v 2, v 3, v n, at times t = t 1, t 2, t 3, t n, then the average velocity is given by,ĭifference Between Average Speed and Average Velocity When an object undergoes a change in velocities at different times, the average velocity is determined by the total sum of all the velocities at different instances divided by the number of total time. When we take the limit as Δt→0, then it becomes dy/dt, the average velocity turns into instantaneous velocity at time t. Where y 0 is the position of an object at time t and (y 0 +Δy) is its position in the same direction after an increase of time by Δt. Where d is the displacement and t is the time taken for that displacement.įor a short interval of time, the average velocity can be calculated as follows: It may be noted that we use the term movement instead of distance to emphasise the direction.Īlgebraically an average velocity is defined as, v = d/t Now average velocity according to the definition is the ratio of the displacement from point a to point b of an object to the time it had taken to make that displacement from point a to point b. We will dive in detail about the difference between speed and velocity, for now, let's come back to average velocity. Velocity on the other hand is nothing, but the speed defined with respect to the direction in which an object travels. The speed on an object refers to the change in position of that object with respect to time. Now before understanding average velocity, let us understand what velocity exactly is and what speed is and how these two are connected. In physics, a different approach is taken.
![define average speed define average speed](https://toppr-doubts-media.s3.amazonaws.com/images/9363901/17d9a75b-24a0-489a-a19f-a9ff65d57534.jpg)
The word average simply means, the ratio of the sum of quantities to the total number of quantities. Here, we discuss average velocity and its mathematical representation along with its graphical representation. All these quantities are described with respect to one parameter, that is time. The proper description of motion was given by Sir Isaac Newton. The term motion can be described by using some physical quantity terms like speed, velocity, distance, displacement, and acceleration.