How Are Speed and Velocity Different from One Another?

1. What causes an object to accelerate?
2. How are speed and velocity different from one another?
3. How are velocity and acceleration different from one another?
4. What do speed, velocity and acceleration have in common?

1. Calculate speed, average speed, and velocity.

1. Measure and graph changes in motion.

1. Differentiate between speed, velocity, and acceleration.

Use the following equations to answer the following speed questions. Show all of your work.

1) If Anthony throws the football 60 meters in 3 seconds, what is the average speed of the football?

2) It takes Roberto 3 seconds to run from the batters box to first base. First base is 27 meters away from home plate. What was her average speed?

3) Mathew ran 1800 meters from the cops. It took the cops 5 minutes to catch him. What was his average speed, in meters/second?

4) Define acceleration:

Planet Earth orbits around the Sun at a speed of 28.9 km/s. Why is Earth considered to be accelerating if it is moving at a constant speed (use your definition of acceleration)?

5) Which description best matches your experience while riding a rollercoaster:

a) Only your speed is constant

b) Only your velocity is constant

c) Your velocity changes but your speed does not

d) You are accelerating throughout the entire ride as you speed up, slow down and turn

6) If the ? was replaced with 15 Newtons, what would most likely occur?

a) The boxes speed would decrease.

b) The box would accelerate to the left.

c) The box would accelerate to the right.

d) The forces on the box would become balanced.

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The distance-time graphs below represent the motion of a car. Match the descriptions with the graphs. Explain your answers.

Descriptions:

1. The car is stopped.
2. The car is traveling at a constant speed.
3. The speed of the car is decreasing.
4. The car is coming back.

1. Graph A matches description _____ because ______.
2. Graph B matches description _____ because ______.
3. Graph C matches description _____ because ______.
4. Graph D matches description _____ because ______.

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The speed-time graphs below represent the motion of a car. Match the descriptions with the graphs. Explain your answers.

Descriptions:

1. The car is stopped.
2. The car is traveling at a constant speed.
3. The car is accelerating.
4. The car is slowing down.

1. Graph E matches description _____ because ______.
2. Graph F matches description _____ because ______.
3. Graph G matches description _____ because ______.
4. Graph H matches description _____ because ______.

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Challenge Problem: Lauren’s SUV was detected exceeding the posted speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour, how many kilometers per hour would she have been traveling over the limit if she had covered the a distance of 7 kilometers in 6 minutes?

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