If a race car completed a full lap and is where he started, why is his average velocity zero but his average speed isn’t?

Velocity is displacement over time, whereas speed is distance over time. Displacement is the shortest distance from point A to point B(a straight line). In this case, the starting point(point A) is the ending point(point B) therefore the distance between the start and finish is zero, and zero divided by the driver’s lap time is zero(from the equation), meaning zero velocity. Distance however is the total length of the track in this case. The average speed will be the length of the lap over the time taken to complete the lap, which would be larger than zero.

OO

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Why does resistance increase with temperature?


A bomb of mass 34kg, at rest is detonated. The explosion splits the bomb into two pieces, one of mass 13kg, which is thrown to the left at a velocity of 28 m/s. What is the velocity of the second piece?


Find the period of a wave given that it has a speed of 200m/s and a wavelength of 2m


Two students are provided with a starting pistol, a stopwatch and a long measuring tape. The starting pistol produces a loud sound and a puff of smoke. Describe how the students use the apparatus to calculate the speed of sound.