View Full Version : Speed and its Formula
 
 Matos4206
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.
 sheshan
May 31, 2012, 03:49 AM
what is speed? Speed of a moving body is the distance travelled by it in unit time
S = D / T
Speed = Distance / Time
 ebaines
May 31, 2012, 05:49 AM
what is speed? Speed of a moving body is the distance travelled by it in unit time
S = D / T
Speed = Distance / Time
 
Sheshan - didn't you notice  that this question was asked and answered over 5 years ago??  There's no value in providing a response that merely duplicates what was said before, especially since it was so long ago.