Question

holden is trying to determine the velocity of his race car. he went 20 meters east, turned around, and went 40 meters west. his car was 20 meters from the starting line. this took 5 seconds. what is the cars average velocity? 4 m/s east 4 m/s west 12 m/s west 12 m/s east

Explanation:

Step1: Define displacement and time

Displacement is the straight - line distance from the starting point to the ending point. Here, the car moves 20 m east and then 40 m west. The displacement $d$ is $40 - 20=20$ m west. The time $t = 5$ s.

Step2: Use the velocity formula

The formula for average velocity $v=\frac{d}{t}$. Substituting $d = 20$ m and $t = 5$ s into the formula, we get $v=\frac{20}{5}=4$ m/s. The direction is west as the displacement is in the west direction.

Answer:

4 m/s west