Constant Speed and Velocity

To start this lesson we have to look at some of the terminology used in Mechanics when
dealing with speed and velocity.
Although very similar the meaning of speed and velocity are slightly different. When we
talk about speed we have to reference it in terms of a value and a unit. For example we
could say the car was travelling 30 kilometres per hours (written as either 30km/h or
30 km h −1 ).
Velocity on the other hand is a given in terms of a speed and a direction (it’s a vector
quantity, as opposed to speed which is a scalar quantity). For example we could say the
car was travelling 30 km h −1 due north.
When dealing with questions concerning speed or velocity they are both denoted by the
letter v . There is an equation that you must learn that links, velocity/speed, distance
and time;
s = v×t
its important to remember that s is displacement/distance, v represents velocity/speed
and t represents time.

Many questions that you encounter will be on a straight plane. This means that you will
only have to deal with two directions. One is considered positive and the other negative.
For example if 3 m s −1 to the right is considered positive, then 3 m s −1 to the left is
considered negative and is written as -3 m s −1 .

Changing Units
If we consider a car travelling 30 km h −1 , we can rewrite this in terms of m s −1 . It’s
important that you are able to convert from one to the other.

Example One
Express a speed of 30 km h −1 in m s −1 .
Remember that km = 1000m . Therefore we can rewrite km h −1 as;
km h −1 = 1000m h −1
Therefore 30 km h −1 is equal to 30 × 1000m h −1 = 30 000m h −1 . To convert h −1 to s −1 we

have to divide our answer by 3600 ( 60 × 60 );

30 000m h −1
∴ = 8 13 m s −1
360
When using s = vt it is important that you are consistent with your units if the question
gives you the speed in km h −1 it’s important that you give your answer in km h −1 .

1 © Ciarán McCormick 2008

Example Two
Find the distance travelled in 2 minutes by a body moving with a constant speed of
6 km h −1 .
The first thing that we have to do is either convert the time terms of hours or convert the
speed in terms of km min −1 . Its much easier to convert minutes into hours, just put 2
minutes over 60 minutes;
2 1
= h
60 30
Now we just use the displacement – speed – time equation;
displacement = speed × time

1
s = 6 km h −1 × h
30
6 km h −1 1
s= = km = 0.2 km or 200m
30 h 5
Example Three
A, B and C are three points on a straight road. AB = 5 km and BC = 4 km . A man runs
from A to B at 20km h −1 and then walks from B to C at 8km h −1 . Find:
a) The total time taken to travel from A to C
b) The average speed of the man for the journey from A to C

a) Lets first work out the time taken to travel from A to B and then the time to
travel from B to C;
displacement
time =
speed
5 km
AB time = = 1 hour
20 km h −1 4

4 km
BC time = = 1 hour
8 km h −1 2

Now it’s just a matter of adding the two answers;

1 + 1 = 3 hour
4 2 4
b) To find the average speed is found by dividing the total displacement by the
total time taken;
displacement
avg. speed =
time

2 © Ciarán McCormick 2008

 5 km + 4 km
avg. speed =
3 4 hours

avg. speed = 9 km × 4 3 hours

36 km h −1
avg. speed = = 12 km h −1
3

i-j Notation
In the vectors lessons we came across i-j notation which was used to represent the
position of a body. We can also represent a velocity in i-j vector form. For example;
v = ( ci + dj ) m s −1

We deal with velocity vectors in exactly the same way as dealing with position vectors.

Example Four
A particle has an initial position vector (4i + 3j + 9k) m . The particle moves with a
constant velocity of (3i – 2j – 5k) m s −1 .
Find:
a) The position vector of the particle at time t
b) The position vector of the particle after 5 seconds

How far is the particle from the origin after 5 seconds?

a) From our previous examples we know;

s = v×t
s = t ( 3i − 2 j − 5 k )

To find the final position vector we have to add our original position to the
displacement we just found.
= t ( 3i − 2 j − 5 k ) + ( 4 i + 3 j + 9 k )

= ( 4 + 3t ) i + ( 3 − 2t ) j + ( 9 − 5t ) k

Therefore the position vector of the particle after time t is;

( 4 + 3t ) i + ( 3 − 2t ) j + ( 9 − 5t ) k  m

b) To find the position vector after 5 seconds we simply substitute 5 into the
previous position vector we found in part a);
= ( 4 + 15 ) i + ( 3 − 10 ) j + ( 9 − 25 ) k  m

= ( 19 ) i + ( −7 ) j + ( −16 ) k  m

= ( 19i − 7 j − 16 k ) m

3 © Ciarán McCormick 2008

To find how far the particle is from the origin we just have to resolve the vector;

( 19 ) + ( −7 ) + ( −16 )
2 2 2
=

= 361 + 49 + 256

= 666

= 9 74

= 3 74

It’s important to try as many questions like these as possible. The more you practice the
better you will become at dealing with these types of questions.

4 © Ciarán McCormick 2008