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How do you find the average speed and average velocity for a trip with a turn-around?

You decide to get some extra exercise by biking to school every morning. Your school is 4 miles away from your house, and you get so excited pedaling on your bike that you end up past the school, 20 miles away from home. You quickly turn around and rush back to school, all in time for class. If the whole trip takes you 2 hours, then what is your average velocity and average speed for the entire path?

Summary

  1. H- home, S- school
  2. T- turn-around
  3. mi- miles
  4. ttotal- the total time
  5. hr= hours
  6. vavg with an arrow- average velocity
  7. savg- average speed
  8. d with an arrow- displacement
  9. The plus direction is to the right, the minus is to the left

Notes

    1. vavg with an arrow- the average velocity vector
    2. d with an arrow- the displacement vector
    1. We know the time, so all we need is to get the displacement and then we can apply the vavg equation
    1. d with an arrow- the displacement vector
    1. vavg with an arrow- the average velocity vector
    1. vavg with an arrow- the average velocity vector
    2. mph- miles per hour
    1. savg- average speed
    1. We know the time, so all we need is to get the total distance and then we can apply the savg equation
    1. savg- average speed
    1. savg- average speed
    2. divide the total distance by the total time
    3. mph- miles per hour