Speed and Velocity

About the lecture

In this mini-lecture, we discuss speed and velocity, focusing in particular on: (i) examples of familiar speeds; (ii) average speed; (iii) the difference between speed (magnitude of rate of change of distance with respect to time) and velocity (speed with specified direction); and (iv) a graph of linear distance vs. time and the associated constant speed vs. time graph, where we see that the speed can be determined from the slope of the distance vs. time graph and that the area under the curve of the speed vs. time graph is the distance travelled.

About the lecturer

Derek Raine is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester. His research has ranged over Relativity, Cosmology, General Relativistic Quantum Field Theory, Astrophysics, Biophysics, and education. Professor Raine was involved with the University of Leicester’s Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) research where he developed alternative approaches to teaching, including computer simulations, problem-based and research-based learning, flipped learning, and spaced repetition.