Kinematic Concepts - Mission KC3 Detailed Help


For any given motion, speed refers to ____.




 
Definition of Speed:
The speed of a moving object refers to how fast the object is moving. It is the distance traveled per unit of time.


 
Speed is a scalar quantity that is ignorant of the direction of travel and any changes in direction. Suppose that a person walks 12 m, east and then 4 m, west in 10 s. The distance traveled is 16 m and the average speed is 1.6 m/s. The fact that there was a direction change is irrelevant to any measurement of the distance and speed. Speed simply keeps trackof the rate at which distance is covered. Since a change in direction does not affect the coverage of distance, it will not affect the speed.