What is velocity and how is it different from speed?

What is velocity and how is it different from speed?

• A. Velocity is speed only
• B. Speed includes direction and velocity equals speed
• C. Velocity includes speed and direction; speed is just how fast an object moves
• D. Speed includes velocity and acceleration

Answer: (C)

Velocity describes how fast something is moving and the direction it’s moving in. That means velocity is a vector with both magnitude (speed) and direction, while speed is just how fast the object travels and has no direction. For example, a car going 60 km/h north has a velocity of 60 km/h north; if it goes 60 km/h south, the speed is still 60 km/h but the velocity is in the opposite direction. So velocity uses direction as part of its description, whereas speed does not. Displacement over time gives velocity, while distance over time gives speed.

Velocity describes how fast something is moving and the direction it’s moving in. That means velocity is a vector with both magnitude (speed) and direction, while speed is just how fast the object travels and has no direction. For example, a car going 60 km/h north has a velocity of 60 km/h north; if it goes 60 km/h south, the speed is still 60 km/h but the velocity is in the opposite direction. So velocity uses direction as part of its description, whereas speed does not. Displacement over time gives velocity, while distance over time gives speed.