SPEED

SUMMARY
B y K e n d r i c ko J . F
 SPEED
Speed is a measure of the distance covered by an object in
certain time. A speed includes velocity with a formula which
is velocity : Total distance divided by time.
 SPEED RECORDS
This table shows some land speed records of the 20th
century.

Date Speed/km/ Driver Vehicle

h
15/10/97 1277.99 Andy Green Thrust SSC
4/10/83 1013.47 Richard Thrust 2
Noble
23/10/70 995.85 Gary The Blue
Gabelick Flame
15/11/65 960.96 Craig Sprit of
Breedlove America
7/11/65 922.48 Art Arfon Green
Monster
 MEASURING SPEED
The speedometer in a vehicle : connected by a cable to a
shaft which turns the wheels. There is a wire in the cable
which is connected to a shaft by gear wheels. When the
shaft turns, the wire in the cable turns too. At the other end
of the wire is a magnet. It spins round when the vehicle’s
wheels turn. The magnet is surrounded by a circular metal
cup. The cup is made to turn, the turning effect increasing
as the speed of the spinning magnet.
 THE SPEED TRAP GUN
The speed trap gun is a radar gun. When the gun is fired at
an approaching vehicle a beam of radio waves travels to it
through the air. This is reflected off the front of the vehicle
and returns to a receiver on the gun.
 THE STOP WATCH
The stop watch was started as the object passed the start
line and was stopped as the object passed the finish line.
The distance travelled from the start line to the finish line
was measured and divided by time measured by the stop
watch.
 LIGHT GATES
A beam of light shines onto a light sensitive switch. When
the beam of the light gate used at the start of a speed test
is broken by an object passing through it, the switch starts
an electronic stop watch. When the beam used at the finish
of the speed test is broken by the object passing through, it
causes the stop watch to stop.
DISTANCE/TIME GRAPH

• The distance travelled by an object

VELOCITY
over a period of time can be plotted
on a graph called a distance/time
• When something moves it goes in a
graph. The distance covered by an
particular direction. Example : an
object is recorded on the vertical
aeroplane move at 900 km/h in a
axis. And the time taken for the
direction due north. When the
object is recorded on the horizontal
speed and the direction of
axis.
movement are given together this is
called velocity.
THE END