1. DDiissttaannccee::
Distance, or farness, is a numerical description of how far apart objects are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a
physical length, or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). In mathematics, a distance function or metric is a
generalization of the concept of physical distance. A metric is a function that behaves according to a specific set of rules, and is a concrete way
of describing what it means for elements of some space to be "close to" or "far away from" each other most cases, "distance from A to B" is
interchangeable with "distance between B and A".
AAvveerraaggee ssppeeeedd::
the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity (the rate of change of its position); it is thus a scalarquantity.
[1]
The average speed of an
object in an interval of time is the distance travelled by the object divided by the duration of the interval;
[2]
the instantaneous speed is
the limit of the average speed as the duration of the time interval approaches zero.
The Italian physicist Galileo Galilei is credited with being the first to measure speed by considering the distance covered and the time it takes.
Galileo defined speed as the distance covered per unit of time.
[3]
In equation form, this is
Example;
2. VVeelloocciittyy::
Velocity is the rate of change of the position of an object, equivalent to a specification of its speed and direction of motion, e.g. 60 km/h to the
north. Velocity is an important concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics which describes the motion of bodies.
Velocity is a vector physical quantity; both magnitude and direction are required to define it. The scalar absolute value (magnitude) of velocity is
called "speed", a quantity that is measured in metres per second (m/s or m·s
−1
) in the SI (metric) system. For example, "5 metres per second" is
a scalar (not a vector), whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector.
If there is a change in speed, direction, or both, then the object has a changing velocity and is said to be undergoing an acceleration.
Example:
AAcccceelleerraattiioonn::
Acceleration is the rate at which the velocity of an object changes with time.
[1]
Velocity and acceleration are vector quantities,
withmagnitude, direction, and add according to the parallelogram law.
[2][3]
As described by Newton's Second Law, acceleration is caused by a
netforce; the force, as a vector, is equal to the product of the mass of the object being accelerated (scalar) and the acceleration (vector).
The SI unit for acceleration is the metre per second squared (m/s
2
).
Example:
The velocity of a particle moving on a curved path as a function of time can be written as:
with v(t) equal to the speed of travel along the path, and