Question

Describe two situations in which your velocity is constant

Answer 1

1. When you are driving on a straight and level highway at a constant speed, your velocity is constant. This means that your speed and direction of travel are both unchanged over time. For example, if you are driving 60 mph in a straight line towards the east, your velocity is 60 mph to the east.

2. When you are in free fall, your velocity is constant. This means that you are falling at a constant rate and your speed is increasing linearly over time, due to the acceleration caused by gravity. For example, if you drop a ball from a high place, it falls to the ground at a constant velocity, increasing its speed as it falls. In this situation, the velocity is constant in magnitude (speed) but not in direction, as the ball is continuously falling towards the ground

Answer 2

The simplest type of motion (excluding the trivial case in which the body under investigation remains at rest) consists of motion with constant velocity. This type of motion occurs in everyday life whenever an object slides over a horizontal, low friction surface: e.g., a puck sliding across a hockey rink.