Chica1975 said:Homework Statement
During a race on an oval track a car travels at an average speed of 200km/h. a) How far did it travel in 45.0mins? b) determine its average velocity at the end of its 3rd lap.
Homework Equations
ok I worked out part a of the question and that is fine. But logically I can't figure out why the answer to the second part of the question would be 0. Can anyone explain why the average velocity at the end of the 3rd lap would be 0? thanks
gneill said:Average velocity is determined by the total displacement (from a starting position) over the total time. Since the car is right back where it started after every lap, that displacement is zero at that moment.
Average speed is another matter; It takes into account the actual distance traveled rather than the displacement.
Average velocity is the displacement of an object divided by the time it took to travel that distance. It is a measure of the overall rate at which an object is moving.
While average velocity takes into account the direction of motion, average speed only considers the distance traveled without regard to direction. Average velocity is a vector quantity, while average speed is a scalar quantity.
To calculate average velocity, you divide the change in position by the change in time, using the formula: average velocity = (final position - initial position) / (total time).
The unit of measurement for average velocity is meters per second (m/s) in the metric system and feet per second (ft/s) in the imperial system.
Yes, average velocity can be negative. This indicates that the object is moving in the opposite direction of the positive direction that was chosen as the reference point. For example, if a car travels south and then north, its average velocity would be negative because it is moving in the opposite direction of the chosen reference point (north).