Defined as a distance travelled by an

object per unit time.

SI unit for speed is metre per second
(ms
-1
). Other unit that commonly used
are kmh
-1
and cms
-1
.
Speed do not give any information
about the direction of the moving
object.

Speed = Distance travelled
Time taken

Example:
If a toy car travels 6 metres in 2 seconds,
how can its speed be calculated?
Speed = 6m
2s
= 3 ms
-1

Defined as the distance travelled in a
given direction per unit time.
Velocity describes both speed and
direction of a moving object.


SI unit for velocty is same as speed
(ms
-1
).

Velocity = Distance travelled in a given
direction
Time taken

Example:
A car travelling at 100 kmh
-1
to the east
and another car travelling at 100 kmh
-1
to
the west; have the same speed but
different velocities.
A moving object does not always maintain
a uniform velocity all the time; it may slow
down or speed up.
Example: When a person during at 100
kmh
-1
step on the brake pedal to slow
down the car, the car is decelerating
(decreasing its velocity). If the driver step
on the accelerator, the car will be
accelerating (increasing its velocity).
SI unit for acceleration is metre per second
per second (m s
-2
).



Acceleration = Change in velocity
Time taken
= Final velocity initial velocity
Time taken

Example 1:
A toy car travelling at 10 ms
-1
slows down
to 2 ms
-1
in 2 seconds. Calculate the
acceleration of the toy car.
Final velocity initial velocity
Time taken
= ??
Example 2:
A static object takes 5 seconds to reach
acceleration of 15 ms
-1
. What is its final
velocity?
Final velocity initial velocity
Time taken
= ??



Measuring velocity and acceleration
A ticker timer can be used to
measure velocity and
acceleration.
A ticker timer has a vibrating
arm that vibrates with a
frequency of 50Hz, which will
print 50 dots onto the ticker
tape in 1 second. Hence, the
time between two dots ( a
tick) is 0.02s.
The faster the trolley moves,
the further apart the dots
marked on tape.
Ticker tape of an object moving at a constant
velocity:


Ticker tape of an object moving at a uniform
acceleration (object is accelerating):


Ticker tape of an object moving at a uniform
deceleration (object is decelerating):
Example:

15 cm



The figure show a ticker tape of an object
moving in a straight line. Calculate the
average velocity of the object.
Velocity = Distance travelled
Time taken
= ??