{"id":228522,"date":"2025-06-07T10:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T10:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=228522"},"modified":"2025-06-07T10:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T10:50:08","slug":"average-velocity-equals-distance-travelled-divided-by-speed-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/07\/average-velocity-equals-distance-travelled-divided-by-speed-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Average velocity equals distance travelled divided by speed time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Average velocity equals distance travelled divided by speed time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correct Answer:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Average velocity = Total displacement \u00f7 Total time taken<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Explanation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There is a common confusion between average velocity<\/em> and average speed<\/em>, but they are distinct concepts in physics. The formula stated in your question\u2014\u201caverage velocity equals distance travelled divided by speed time\u201d<\/strong>\u2014is incorrect<\/strong>. Let\u2019s clarify this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Definitions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Average Velocity<\/strong> is a vector quantity. It considers the direction and is defined as: Average\u00a0Velocity=Total\u00a0DisplacementTotal\u00a0Time\u00a0Taken\\text{Average Velocity} = \\frac{\\text{Total Displacement}}{\\text{Total Time Taken}}Average\u00a0Velocity=Total\u00a0Time\u00a0TakenTotal\u00a0Displacement\u200b Displacement is the change in position from the starting point to the final point, regardless of the path taken.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Average Speed<\/strong>, on the other hand, is a scalar quantity. It only considers the magnitude (how much ground is covered), and is calculated as: Average\u00a0Speed=Total\u00a0Distance\u00a0TravelledTotal\u00a0Time\u00a0Taken\\text{Average Speed} = \\frac{\\text{Total Distance Travelled}}{\\text{Total Time Taken}}Average\u00a0Speed=Total\u00a0Time\u00a0TakenTotal\u00a0Distance\u00a0Travelled\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    2. Common Mistake:<\/strong>
    The incorrect expression you mentioned, \u201cdistance travelled divided by speed time,\u201d doesn\u2019t make physical sense. If we break it down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • \u201cSpeed time\u201d would mean multiplying speed and time, which gives distance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • So, \u201cdistance \u00f7 (speed \u00d7 time)\u201d = distance \u00f7 distance = 1 (dimensionless), which doesn\u2019t yield velocity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      3. Example to Understand Better:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Imagine a car moves 100 meters east in 10 seconds and then 100 meters west in another 10 seconds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Total distance travelled<\/strong> = 200 meters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Total displacement<\/strong> = 0 meters (since it ends up where it started).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Average speed<\/strong> = 200 m \u00f7 20 s = 10 m\/s.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Average velocity<\/strong> = 0 m \u00f7 20 s = 0 m\/s<\/strong> (because the displacement is zero).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        This shows how average velocity can be zero even if movement occurred\u2014because it depends on displacement, not total path covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        In conclusion<\/strong>, always use displacement (not distance) and total time when calculating average velocity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Average velocity equals distance travelled divided by speed time The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Correct Answer: Average velocity = Total displacement \u00f7 Total time taken Explanation There is a common confusion between average velocity and average speed, but they are distinct concepts in physics. The formula stated in your question\u2014\u201caverage velocity equals distance travelled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}