Speed and its Formula

Matos4206 · #1 Apr 26, 2007, 05:10 PM

I've been slacking in class. Today my science teacher gave a lesson on speed and its formula and I missed it. I was given homework on it but I don't have an understanding on how to complete it.

SameOldSituation · Apr 26, 2007, 05:30 PM

Is this a question? Or a declarative statement?

Well, speed is similar to velocity, so v=x/t (or, dx/dt if you're in calc). However, you use distance, rather than displacement. So I guess it's s=d/t. Anyway, it's speed = distance divided by time. So, you travel 14 feet per second or something like that. You travel 14 feet per every one second.

ebaines · Apr 27, 2007, 07:32 AM

One other nuance - speed is a "scalar," meaning it has a magnitude but no direction, while velocity is a vector, meaning it has both a magnitude and direction. Thus if a car is heading north on the highway at 50 MPH, and a truck is heading south at 50 MPH, they both have the same speed, but their velocities are different. Treating velocity as a vector is what allows you to determine things like relative velocities of two objects, or the acceleration of an object that is moving in a circle at a constant speed.



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