A person walks first at a constant speed of 5.00 m / s along a straight line from point A to poi

step 1 So if we let D represent the distance between A and B and T1 be the time for which the walker ha

A person walks first at a constant speed of 5.00 m / s along...

A person walks first at a constant speed of $5.00 \mathrm{m} / \mathrm{s}$ along a straight line from point $A$ to point $B$ and then back along the line from $B$ to $A$ at a constant speed of $3.00 \mathrm{m} / \mathrm{s}$ What is (a) her average speed over the entire trip? (b) her average velocity over the entire trip?

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Key Concepts

Displacement vs. Distance

Distance is the total length of the path traveled, regardless of direction, while displacement is the net change in position from the starting point to the ending point. These concepts are fundamental in distinguishing between average speed (using distance) and average velocity (using displacement).

Average Speed

Average speed is calculated by dividing the total distance traveled by the total time taken for the trip. It is a scalar quantity that accounts for the entire path of the motion without regard to direction.

Average Velocity

Average velocity is determined by dividing the net displacement (the straight-line distance from the initial to the final position) by the total time elapsed. Being a vector quantity, it takes into account both magnitude and direction, and may be zero even when the average speed is nonzero if the starting and ending points coincide.

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