An object travels North at 6 m/s for 2 s and then travels South at 1 m/s for 4 s. What are the object's average speed and velocity?
1 Answer
Jul 10, 2016
The average velocity is
Explanation:
The average speed of the object is simply the total displacement divided by the total time. Since the object first moves North for two seconds at 6 m/s, the object is displaced 12 meters to the North.
After moving South at 1 m/s for 4 seconds, the object now has a total displacement of 8 meters to the North.
The average speed then is:
And the velocity is simply the average speed in the direction traveled, North.