Question

What two things do you need to know to describe the velocity of an object?

Answer 1

The distance it traveled and the time that it took to travel that distance

Answer 2

By definition, we have that the speed of an object is given by:

`v = (d)/(t)`

Where,

d: distance [in units of length: meters, feet, miles]

t: time [in units of time: minutes, seconds, hours]

Therefore, knowing the distance traveled, and the time to travel this distance, we can know the speed of an object.

Then, since velocity is a vector, then we need the direction of the vector.

Therefore, the velocity vector can be written as:

`v = |v|(cos(\alpha) i + sin(\alpha) j)`

Answer:

two things you need to know to describe the velocity of an object are:

1) Magnitude (speed)

2) direction