Notes: Week 14 - Speed, Velocity & Acceleration
Topics covered:
- Speed vs Velocity vs Acceleration
- Calculating speed & velocity
Vocab:
- Speed, Velocity, Acceleration
Speed
= rate at which distance changes Distance = how far an object has moved Units can be: meters, miles, inches, feet
- usually abbreviated by the letter ‘x’
- Both are scalar quantities (fully defined by value → just a number and unit)
Calculating speed
- The change in position is a distance traveled in a given amount of time.
Units can be: hours, minutes, seconds or days
- To calculate the speed of an object, you need to know two things:
- the distance traveled by the object- the time it took to travel the distance
Calculating speed
- Since speed is a ratio of distance over time, the units for speed are a ratio of distance units over time units.
Problem Solving steps:
- Identify your variables .
- Figure out what you are solving for.
- Find the equation you will use
- Plug in what you know, solve for the unknown
- A bluebird is observed to fly 50 meters in 7.5 seconds. Calculate the speed, include the unit.
- Formula: Speed = distance / time
- A bluebird is observed to fly 50 meters in 7.5 seconds. Calculate the speed, include the unit.
- Speed = 50/7.5
= 6.666 or 6.7 m/s
Velocity
- The velocity of an object tells you both its speed and its direction of motion. (what makes it a vector)
- A velocity can be positive or negative.
- The positive or negative sign for velocity is based on the calculation of a change in position.
Two cars going opposite directions have the same speed, but their velocities are different—one is positive and the other is negative.
The velocity vector
- Velocity is the change in position (displacement) divided by the change in time.
- A cardinal is observed to flies for 10 seconds with a displacement of 20 meters. Calculate the velocity, include the unit. Formula:
- Velocity = displacement / time
- A cardinal is observed to flies for 10 seconds with a displacement of 20 meters. Calculate the velocity, include the unit.
- Velocity = 20 / 10 = 2 m/s
Acceleration
= the rate at which velocity changes
Examples: Speeding up , slowing down or changing direction
Notes: Week 14 - Speed, Velocity & Acceleration
Julie Effler
Created on March 19, 2025
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Transcript
Notes: Week 14 - Speed, Velocity & Acceleration
Topics covered:
- Speed vs Velocity vs Acceleration
- Calculating speed & velocity
Vocab:Speed
= rate at which distance changes Distance = how far an object has moved Units can be: meters, miles, inches, feet
- usually abbreviated by the letter ‘x’
- Both are scalar quantities (fully defined by value → just a number and unit)Calculating speed
- The change in position is a distance traveled in a given amount of time.
Units can be: hours, minutes, seconds or days- To calculate the speed of an object, you need to know two things:
- the distance traveled by the object- the time it took to travel the distanceCalculating speed
Problem Solving steps:
- A bluebird is observed to fly 50 meters in 7.5 seconds. Calculate the speed, include the unit.
- Speed = 50/7.5
= 6.666 or 6.7 m/sVelocity
Two cars going opposite directions have the same speed, but their velocities are different—one is positive and the other is negative.
The velocity vector
Acceleration
= the rate at which velocity changes
- COMMON UNIT = m/s2
Examples: Speeding up , slowing down or changing direction