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All 11 Flashcards — Velocity and displacement
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Question
What is displacement?
Answer
The **change in position**: a straight line from start to finish, with a direction (m).
Question
What is distance?
Answer
The total length of the path travelled. A size only (m).
Question
Is distance a scalar or a vector?
Answer
A **scalar**: a size only.
Question
Is displacement a scalar or a vector?
Answer
A **vector**: a size and a direction.
Question
What is velocity?
Answer
The **rate of change of position**: how fast, and in which direction (m s⁻¹).
Question
Average speed = ?
Answer
Total distance ÷ total time.
Question
Average velocity = ?
Answer
Displacement ÷ time taken (Δs ÷ Δt).
Question
Two moves at right angles, x and y. Size of the displacement?
Answer
√(x² + y²), by Pythagoras.
Question
What is instantaneous velocity?
Answer
The velocity at one moment: the slope of the tangent to the position–time graph at that time.
Question
You finish where you started. What is your average velocity?
Answer
**Zero**: the displacement is zero, even though the average speed is not.
Question
What is the unit of speed and of velocity?
Answer
**m s⁻¹** (metres per second).
Read the notes
Full study notes for Velocity and displacement
Topic 1.1 hub
Kinematics
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