Question

On a straight road with the +x axis chosen to point in the direction of motion, you drive for 5 hours at a constant 20 miles per hour, then in a few seconds, you speed up to 60 miles per hour and drive at this speed for 1 hour.

What was the x component of average velocity for the 6-hour period, using the fundamental definition of average velocity, which is the displacement divided by the time interval?

Answer 1

v = 26.7 mph

Step-by-step explanation:

During the first 5 hours, at a constant speed of 20 mph, we find the total displacement to be as follows:

Δx₁ = v₁*t₁ = 20 mph*5 h = 100 mi

Assuming we can neglect the displacement during the speeding up from 20 to 60 mph, we can find the the total displacement at 60 mph as follows:

Δx₂ = v₂*t₂ = 60 mph*1 h = 60 mi

So, the total displacement during all the trip wil be:

Δx = Δx₁ + Δx₂ = 100 mi + 60 mi = 160 mi

So we can find the the average velocity during the 6-hour period, applying the definition of average velocity, as follows:

v = Δx / Δt = 160 mi / 6 h = 26.7 mph