Speed and Velocity

Calculating Speed
• The speed of an object is the distance an
object moves per unit of time.
• Speed is a “rate”
• A rate tells you the amount something
changes in a unit of time. Like a car going 60
mph.
Calculating Speed
• To calculate speed, divide the distance the
object travels by the amount of time it takes
to travel that distance.
Apply It!
• The cyclist is moving at 10 m/s
• How far will she travel after 1, 2, 3, 3.5 and 4
seconds?
• How long will it take her to travel 400 meters?
Average Speed
• When a plane is cruising it can travel at a constant
speed for many hours. But the speed of most
moving objects is not constant.
• Speeds change throughout a journey. They start off
at zero, accelerate to a given speed, hold that speed
for a designated time then eventually slow down
again.
Average Speed
• To calculate average speed, divide the total
distance by the total time.
 Average Speed
• Triathletes change their method of travel during a race.
They swim, bike and run different distances.
• If a Triathlete swims 3 Km in 1 hour, bikes 50 Km in 3
hours, and runs 12 Km in 1 hour, What is the average
speed of the triathlete?
Total distance = 3 km + 50 km + 12 km = 65 km
Total Time = 1 h + 3 h + 1 h = 5 h
65 km/5 h = 13 km/h
Instantaneous Speed
• Instantaneous Speed is the speed an object is
moving at a given instant in time.
• Suppose triathlete B passes triathlete A during the
bike leg of the race. triathlete B has a greater
instantaneous speed than triathlete A.
• The athlete with the greatest average speed, not
the instantaneous speed, wins the race.
3.0 km/0.8 h = 3.75 km/h

3.0 km/1.0 h = 3.0 km/h 30 km + 50 km + 12 km = 65 km

0.8 h + 3.0 h + 1.2 h = 5.0 h

65 km/5.0 h = 13 km/h

1.0 h + 2.5 h + 1.0 h = 4.5 h

50.0 km/3.0 h = 16.7 km/h 65 km/4.5 h = 14.4 km/h

Triathlete B

50.0 km/2.5 h = 20 km/h

Velocity
To describe an objects
motion, you also need
to know its direction.
If a storm is moving at
25 km/h, should you
prepare for the storm
to hit you?
It depends on the
direction the storm is
moving.
Velocity

• When you know both the speed and the

direction of an objects motion, you know the
velocity of the object.
 Graphing Motion
• You can show the motion of
an object on a line graph by
plotting distance vs. time.
• Time is on the x-axis
• Distance is on the y-axis
• A point on the line represents
the distance the object has
traveled during a particular
time.
Calculating the Slope
• You can calculate the slope of a line by
dividing rise by the run. The rise is the vertical
difference, the run is the horizontal difference
between the same two points.
Slope
• The steepness of the line is its slope. The
slope tells you how fast one variable changes
in relation to the other variable in the graph.
• Or, it tells you the rate of change.
Slope
• Since speed is the rate that distance changes over
time, the slope of a distance-verses-time graph
represents speed.
• The steeper the slope the greater the speed.
• A constant slope represents motion at a constant
speed.
Slope

0m
1 min
0 m/min Rise
Run

200 m
150 m 1 min
Rise
1 min 200 m/min
Run
150 m/min
THE END