Concept explainers
Does the speedometer of a car read instantaneous speed or average speed?
To identify: Whether the speedometer of a car read instantaneous speed or average speed.
Introduction:
Average speed is the ratio of total distance traveled to total time. While the instantaneous speed is the magnitude of instantaneous velocity at a particular time. Mathematically, it is given as,
Where,
ds is the distance.
dt is time interval.
Explanation:
Speedometer is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed. This means it will show the speed of a car at a particular instant.
Since, speed is the ratio of distance over time. So, to calculate the instantaneous speed a very small instant of time is considered.
Conclusion:
Therefore, speedometer of a car reads instantaneous speed.
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Conceptual Physics: The High School Physics Program
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