How to Calculate Average Velocity of a Bicyclist?
What is the average velocity of a bicyclist who speeds up from rest to 9m/s?
A bicyclist steadily speeds up from rest to 9m/s. What's the average velocity?
Answer:
The bicyclist's average velocity, assuming a straight-line motion and a steady acceleration from rest to a final speed of 9m/s, would be 4.5m/s.
When a bicyclist accelerates from rest to a final speed of 9m/s, the average velocity can be calculated by taking the average of the initial and final velocities. In this case, the initial velocity is 0m/s (rest) and the final velocity is 9m/s.
To find the average velocity, we add the initial and final velocities together and divide by 2. Therefore, (0m/s + 9m/s)/2 equals 4.5m/s. This means that the average velocity of the bicyclist during this acceleration process is 4.5m/s.
Key Points:- Calculate average velocity by taking the average of initial and final velocities.
- For straight-line motion with steady acceleration, average velocity is the midpoint between the initial and final velocities.