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Does average velocity have a direction associated with it?

Does average velocity have a direction associated with it?

Grade:upto college level

2 Answers

Deepak Patra
askIITians Faculty 471 Points
9 years ago
Yes, the average velocity has the direction associated with it.
By definition, the average velocity in any interval is defined to be the displacement i.e. the change in position divided by the time interval during which the displacement occurs.
Mathematically,
\overrightarrow {v_{av}} = \frac{\Delta \overrightarrow {r}}{\Delta t}
Also, the time interval(\Delta t) being scalar, the average velocity vector(\overrightarrow{v}_{av}) points in the same direction as the displacement vector\Delta \overrightarrow{r}.
Siddharth Ratnam
22 Points
9 years ago
Yes. Average Velocity is a vector quantity. Therefore, Av. V = Displacement/ Time.
 Displacement can be negative if the particle is moving towards a negative x-axis. Please note that Negative velocity does not refer to slowing down of a particle, it just refers to the change in direction of the particle towards the negative side

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