Most people take velocity and speed to be the same thing. While it might be true in certain, ideal circumstances, as a physicist and mathematician, it’s not entirely the same thing.
What is Velocity?
In the simplest terms, Velocity is object’s speed in a particular direction. In Mathematics, we describe velocity as the rate of change in displacement.
Velocity is direction sensitive. Unlike speed which only considers distance covered in a certain amount of time. Therefore, the only time that speed is the same as velocity is when the object travels in a straight line.
To calculate velocity, we calculate the displacement from the starting point to the finish point and divide that by the time covered. Displacement is the distance in a straight line or the change in position.
Formula to Calculate Velocity.
![how to calculate velocity
velocity formula](https://www.learntocalculate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-calculate-velocity.png)
Examples:
For this particular tutorial, I’ll give 2 examples to make sure you understand the relationship between speed and velocity and why the two are often confused to be the same thing.
Example 1
An object moves in a straight line from position A to position B, a distance of 300 meters in 20 seconds.
![how to calculate velocity example 1
Velocity formula for physics](https://www.learntocalculate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-calculate-velocity-example-1.png)
a) What is the speed of that object? b) What is the velocity of that object?
In this case, since the object traveled in a straight line, the the total distance covered is equal to the displacement of the object between the starting point and the finish point.
Therefore,
![](https://www.learntocalculate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-calculate-velocity-vs-speed.png)
In Example 1, the velocity and speed is the same, but the velocity has direction in it. The next example will change everything.
Example 2:
The road from home to school is a winding road that totals to a distance of 46km. If it took takes me 3 hours to walk to school along the road. @)At what speed did I walk to school? b)What was my velocity from home to school?
![distance vs diaplacement in calculatinf speed vs velocity](https://www.learntocalculate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-calculate-velocity-vs-speed-Example-2-1-1024x514.png)
In this case, since there’s a directional issue, the displacement and the distance will not be the same. This is where the difference between speed and velocity is clearly seen.
![](https://www.learntocalculate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-calculate-velocity-vs-speed-Example-2-solutions.png)
There are instances where velocity can be zero whereas speed is 30km/h. If you run around a race track and finish at the same exact point you started, your displacement would be zero and hence your velocity would be zero too!