The Important Differences Between Speed And Velocity.
The Important Differences Between Speed And Velocity: This is one of those distinctive dynamics in natural science, just as displacement and distance have particularly different meanings regardless of clear similarities; the same thing applies to speed and velocity. Keep reading this article to know the important differences between speed and velocity.
Speed is a variable quantity that refers to ‘how fast an object is moving.’ Velocity is a direction quantity that determines ‘In which direction an object is moving’?
Speed
The speed shows the relationship between the distance traveled by an object and the time that this used to cover it. So therefore, it can be measured in kilometers, meters, miles, or knots (in the water environment), per second or per hour.
Since speed is indicated according to distance and time, it is identified by being a variable quantity, which also means that only numerical units are used to describe speed. Since speed suggested covering a distance during a time interval, it can only give a positive value.
The most general way to calculate the incessant velocity of an object moving in a straight line is the formula: r = d / t where
- r: stand for the rate, or speed (sometimes denoted as v, for velocity)
- d: is the distance moved
- t: stands for the time it takes to complete the movement
Velocity
Velocity is a direction quantity that shows the rate at which an object changes its position. Just imagine a person moving swiftly taking one step forward and one step back always returning to the original starting position. While this might end in a frenzy of activity, it would end in a zero velocity.
As the person always goes back to the original position, the motion would never end in a change in position. Since velocity is then defined as the rate at which the position changes, this motion ends in zero velocity.
If a person in motion wants to increase their velocity, then that person must make every effort to increase the amount that they are displaced from their original position. Each step must go into moving the person further from where he or she started. Then definitely, the person should never change directions and start to return to the starting position.
Velocity is a direction quantity. As such, velocity is direction aware. When assessing the velocity of an object, one must keep track of direction. It is not always enough to say that an object has a velocity of 55 mi/hr.
The direction information must also be included in order to fully describe the velocity of the object. For example, you have to describe an object’s velocity as being 55 mi/hr, east. This is one of the notable differences between speed and velocity. Speed is a variable quantity as it does not keep track of direction while velocity is a direction quantity and is direction aware.
The Important Differences Between Speed And Velocity
- Speed refers to the distance covered by a body in unit time.
- Velocity refers to the displacement covered by a body in a unit time.
- Speed and velocity are used to refer to the relationship between the distance traveled and the time is taken to cover it.
- Velocity accounts for both the rapidity and position of the object unlike speed.
- Even so, the velocity of moving Objects can be negative, positive, or can be zero. Speed cannot be negative.
- Velocity is a rate of change of displacement while speed is the rate of change of distance.
- Velocity decides in which direction an object is moving?
- Both quantities are measured in m/s.