Final answer:
The odometer reading of 20,000 miles indicates that you have traveled 20,000 miles. A car's odometer measures distance traveled, not displacement, and dividing this distance by the travel time gives you the average speed.
Step-by-step explanation:
If your odometer reading is 20,000 miles, then you have actually traveled 20,000 miles. An odometer is an instrument used to measure the distance traveled by a vehicle. It records the total distance and does not measure displacement, which refers to how far you are from the starting point in a straight line, regardless of the path taken.
A car's odometer measures distance traveled rather than displacement. On the other hand, a car's speedometer measures speed rather than velocity, as it does not account for direction.
When you divide the total distance traveled, as indicated by the odometer, by the time taken for the trip, you are calculating the average speed. Under normal driving conditions where the direction does not drastically change, the average speed and the magnitude of the average velocity are essentially the same. However, if the path taken involves significant changes in direction, then these two quantities can be different.