Physlet Illustration: Relative Velocity

 

 

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Driving peacefully along the road in your new VW Beetle, you are suddenly passed by a red Ferrari. What is the relative velocity of the Ferrari with respect to you? The clock time shown is in seconds and grid distances are in meters. (Positive is to the right, and negative is to the left.)

Hints

  1. Find the velocity of your VW, by finding the distance it travels over a specific time interval.
  2. Find the velocity of the Ferrari, by finding the distance it travels over a specific time interval.
  3. The relative velocity is the vector difference between the two velocities.
  4. In a one-dimensional example such as this, the vector nature of a velocity is represented by its sign (positive or negative).

Reference

See Walker, Section 3-6

Illustration written by Steve Mellema