Average velocity and displacement - by the dynamic duo, Lisa and Heather

Jacobson, 2005
1. Heather and Matthew walk eastward with a speed of 0.98 m/s. If it takes them
34 min to walk to the store, how far have they walked?
Here's what you know, t = (34 min)(60 sec/min) = 2040 sec, and vavg = 0.98 m/s.
Use the formula vavg = x/t and plug in: 0.98 m/s = x/2040 sec, so x = (0.98m/s)
(2040 s) = 1999.2 m = 2.0 km (1000 m = 1 km)
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2. If Joe rides south on his bicycle in a straight line for 15 min with an average
speed of 12.5 km/h, how far has he ridden?
First rearrange the average velocity formula to solve for
displacement:
vavg = x/t becomes x = vavg t . You know that
vavg = 12.5 km/h, and
t = (15min)(1h/60min) = .25 h, so x =
(12.5km/h)(.25h) = 3.1 km
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3. It takes you 9.5 min to walk with an average velocity of 1.2 m/s to the north
from the bus stop to the museum entrance. What is your displacement?
Using the same formula as in problem 2, plug in the values you know: v avg = 1.2 m/s
and t = (9.5min)(60sec/min) = 570sec. So x = (1.2m/s)(570s) = 684m = 680 m (sig
figs)
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4. Simpson drives his car with an average velocity of 48.0 km/h to the east. How
long will it take him to drive 144 km on a straight highway?
This time rearrange the average velocity formula to solve for
time:
vavg = x/t becomes t = x/ vavg , so t = (144km)/(48.0
km/h) = 3 h
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5. Look back at item 4. How much time would Simpson save by increasing his
average velocity to 56.0 km/h to the east?
This is the same process as problem 4, only with a different average
velocity.
t = x/ vavg = (144km)/(56.0 km/h) =2.57 h. The question asks for

the time saved, which would be the difference between the time in problem 4 and the
time in problem 5. So time saved = 3h 2.57h = .43 hours saved
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6. A bus travels 280 km south along a straight path with an average velocity of 88
km/h to the south. The bus stops for 24 min, then it travels 210 km south with an
average velocity of 75 km/h to the
south.
a. How long does the total trip
last?
b. What is the average
velocity for the total trip?
a. Okay, to find the total time split the trip into three parts and solve for time in each.
Then add the three parts together to find the total
time.
part 1: t = x/ vavg = (280km)/
(88km/h) = 3.182 h
part 2: t = (24min)(1h/60min)
= .4 h
part 3: t = x/ vavg =
(210km)/(75km/h) = 2.8 h
total time = 3.182 h +
.4 h + 2.8 h = 6.38 h or 6 h 23 min
b. To find the average velocity of the total trip, use the formula v avg = x/t , and
for x and t use the time and displacement of the total
trip.
vavg = (280km + 210km)/(6.38h) = 77 km/h
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