Physlet Illustration: Constant Velocity

 

 

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Two balls (one red and one blue) move at constant speeds across the floor, as viewed from above. The distance grid is in cm, and the times are shown in seconds. Can you determine the speed of each ball?

Hints

  1. Find out how far each ball moves over a specific time interval.
  2. Divide the distance traveled by the time it takes to move that distance.
  3. Which ball (red or blue) moves faster according to your calculations?
  4. Does this result agree with what you appear to see in the animation?

Reference

See Walker, Section 2-2

Illustration written by Steve Mellema