Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What two factors describe velocity?

Velocity is a vector quantity and hence needs two characteristics for its full description: magnitude and direction. In contrast, speed is a scalar and can be described by magnitude itself, without any need of its direction. Thus, we can say that the car had an average speed of 30 km/h; however, when talking about velocity, it needs to be modified like this: "the car had a velocity of 30 km/h in southwest direction."


Since velocity is a vector, the laws of vectors apply to it. This also means that the velocity of an object can be resolved into x, y and z directions--all the three dimensions. And we can use the laws of vectors to determine its magnitude. For a velocity vector with x and y components, Vx and Vy, the magnitude will be:


V = `sqrt(V_x^2 + V_y^2)`


Hope this helps. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

How does the choice of details set the tone of the sermon?

Edwards is remembered for his choice of details, particularly in this classic sermon. His goal was not to tell people about his beliefs; he ...