POSITION

WHERE SOMETHING IS LOCATED

POSITION

Usually we use a COORDINATE

SYSTEM to figure out the location of
an object
Start End
Change in position can be explained in
two ways:
0 10 in
1. Distance – How much did the object
travel, in TOTAL, from beginning to
The distance traveled is 10 inches
end. Is a SCALAR value

2. Displacement – how far is the start

position from the end position. Is a The displacement is 10 inches to the RIGHT
VECTOR value
 10 inches The distance
traveled is 32 inches.
The displacement is 0.
10 + 6 + 10 + 6 = 32
Start & End

1 2

6 inches 0 6 inches

4 3

10 inches
 10 inches The distance
traveled is 26 inches
The displacement is 6
inches 10 + 6 + 10 = 26
Start

1 2

6 inches 0 6 inches

4 3

End

10 inches
VELOCITY & SPEED
THE CHANGE IN POSITION OVER A PERIOD OF TIME
VELOCITY VS. SPEED
North
Both velocity and speed explain the change in position over some amount of time
End
t = 2 hrs.
1. Speed – Is a SCALAR value and is ALWAYS POSITIVE
d = 100 miles
∆ 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝐸𝑛𝑑 − 𝑑𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 100 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 − 0 100 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = = = = = 𝟓𝟎 𝐦𝐩𝐡
∆ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝐸𝑛𝑑 − 𝑡𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 2 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 − 0 2 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

2. Velocity – Is a VECTOR value

∆ 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 100 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠

𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ = 𝟓𝟎 𝐦𝐩𝐡 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡
∆ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 2 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 Start
t = 0 hr.
d = 0 miles
EXAMPLES

1. Maya can throw a baseball at 70 mph – Speed

2. Dimitri was late to class and ran 10 km/h towards north campus – Velocity

3. Billy Bob shimmied 5 inches per second to his right – Velocity

4. A cheetah can run up to 75 mph – Speed

5. As of 2018 the fastest car in the world can drive up to 301 mph – Speed