Velocity

Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector quantity, meaning that both magnitude and direction are needed to define it (velocity vector). The scalar absolute value (magnitude) of velocity is called speed, a quantity that is measured in metres per second (m/s or m⋅s⁻¹) in the SI (International System of Units) system. For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar, whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector. If there is a change in speed, direction or both, then the object is said to be undergoing an acceleration.

Definition

Average velocity

The average velocity of an object over a period of time is its change in position, ${\displaystyle \Delta s}$, divided by the duration of the period, ${\displaystyle \Delta t}$, given mathematically as $${\displaystyle {\bar {v}}={\frac {\Delta s}{\Delta t}}.}$$

Instantaneous velocity

The instantaneous velocity of an object is the limit average velocity as the time interval approaches zero. At any particular time t, it can be calculated as the derivative of the position with respect to time: $${\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {v}}=\lim _{{\Delta t}\to 0}{\frac {\Delta {\boldsymbol {s}}}{\Delta t}}={\frac {d{\boldsymbol {s}}}{dt}}.}$$

From this derivative equation, in the one-dimensional case it can be seen that the area under a velocity vs. time (v vs. t graph) is the displacement, s. In calculus terms, the integral of the velocity function v(t) is the displacement function s(t).

In the figure, this corresponds to the yellow area under the curve. $${\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {s}}=\int {\boldsymbol {v}}\ dt.}$$

Although the concept of an instantaneous velocity might at first seem counter-intuitive, it may be thought of as the velocity that the object would continue to travel at if it stopped accelerating at that moment.

Difference between speed and velocity

While the terms speed and velocity are often colloquially used interchangeably to connote how fast an object is moving, in scientific terms they are different. Speed, the scalar magnitude of a velocity vector, denotes only how fast an object is moving, while velocity indicates both an object's speed and direction.

To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed in a constant direction. Constant direction constrains the object to motion in a straight path thus, a constant velocity means motion in a straight line at a constant speed.

For example, a car moving at a constant 20 kilometres per hour in a circular path has a constant speed, but does not have a constant velocity because its direction changes. Hence, the car is considered to be undergoing an acceleration.

Units

Since the derivative of the position with respect to time gives the change in position (in metres) divided by the change in time (in seconds), velocity is measured in metres per second (m/s).

Equation of motion

Average velocity

Velocity is defined as the rate of change of position with respect to time, which may also be referred to as the instantaneous velocity to emphasize the distinction from the average velocity. In some applications the average velocity of an object might be needed, that is to say, the constant velocity that would provide the same resultant displacement as a variable velocity in the same time interval, v(t), over some time period Δt.

Average velocity can be calculated as: $${\displaystyle \mathbf {\bar {v}} ={\frac {\Delta \mathbf {x} }{\Delta t}}={\frac {\int _{t_{0}}^{t_{1}}\mathbf {v} (t)\,dt}{t_{1}-t_{0}}}.}$$

The average velocity is always less than or equal to the average speed of an object. This can be seen by realizing that while distance is always strictly increasing, displacement can increase or decrease in magnitude as well as change direction.

In terms of a displacement-time (x vs. t) graph, the instantaneous velocity (or, simply, velocity) can be thought of as the slope of the tangent line to the curve at any point, and the average velocity as the slope of the secant line between two points with t coordinates equal to the boundaries of the time period for the average velocity.

Special cases

• When a particle moves with different uniform speeds v₁, v₂, v₃, ..., v_n in different time intervals t₁, t₂, t₃, ..., t_n respectively, then average speed over the total time of journey is given as $${\displaystyle {\bar {v}}={\frac {v_{1}t_{1}+v_{2}t_{2}+v_{3}t_{3}+\dots +v_{n}t_{n}}{t_{1}+t_{2}+t_{3}+\dots +t_{n}}}}$$ If t₁ = t₂ = t₃ = ... = t, then average speed is given by the arithmetic mean of the speeds $${\displaystyle {\bar {v}}={\frac {v_{1}+v_{2}+v_{3}+\dots +v_{n}}{n}}={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}{v_{i}}}$$
• When a particle moves different distances s₁, s₂, s₃,..., s_n with speeds v₁, v₂, v₃,..., v_n respectively, then the average speed of the particle over the total distance is given as $${\displaystyle {\bar {v}}={s_{1}+s_{2}+s_{3}+\dots +s_{n} \over t_{1}+t_{2}+t_{3}+\dots +t_{n}}={{s_{1}+s_{2}+s_{3}+\dots +s_{n}} \over {{s_{1} \over v_{1}}+{s_{2} \over v_{2}}+{s_{3} \over v_{3}}+\dots +{s_{n} \over v_{n}}}}}$$If s₁ = s₂ = s₃ = ... = s, then average speed is given by the harmonic mean of the speeds $${\displaystyle {\bar {v}}=n\left({1 \over v_{1}}+{1 \over v_{2}}+{1 \over v_{3}}+\dots +{1 \over v_{n}}\right)^{-1}=n\left(\sum _{i=1}^{n}{\frac {1}{v_{i}}}\right)^{-1}.}$$

Relationship to acceleration

Although velocity is defined as the rate of change of position, it is often common to start with an expression for an object's acceleration. As seen by the three green tangent lines in the figure, an object's instantaneous acceleration at a point in time is the slope of the line tangent to the curve of a v(t) graph at that point.

In other words, instantaneous acceleration is defined as the derivative of velocity with respect to time: $${\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {a}}={\frac {d{\boldsymbol {v}}}{dt}}.}$$

From there, velocity is expressed as the area under an a(t) acceleration vs. time graph. As above, this is done using the concept of the integral: