Year 10 Physics: Speed and Velocity Worksheet
1. A car travelling at a constant speed was timed over 390 m and was found
to cover the distance in 12 s. What was the car’s average speed?
2. Pan cycles for 25 km in 90 minutes.
(a) What is his average speed in km/h?
(b) What is his average speed in m/s?
State your answers correct to two decimal places.
Hint: make sure the distance and time are in the correct units before you use
the formula.
3. Lyra pushes her toy truck 5 m east, then stops it and pushes it 4 m west.
The entire motion takes 10 seconds.
(a) What is the truck’s average speed?
(b) What is the truck’s average velocity?
4. The speed limit outside Ave Maria College (in Vida St) is 40 km/h. What is
that in metres per second (m/s)?
5. A car on a freeway is travelling at 29 m/s. The speed limit is 100 km/h.
Are they breaking the speed limit? Support your answer with a calculation.
6. Malcom paddles his canoe along a straight canal travels 2.5 km south in
15 minutes.
(a) Calculate his average speed in kilometres per hour.
(b) What was his average velocity in metres per second?
7. A battery-operated car travels 6.0 m north in 2.4 s and then 6.0 m south
in 1.8 s.
(a) What is the displacement of the car?
(b) What is the average velocity of the car?
(c) What is the distance travelled by the car?
(d) What is the average speed of the car?
8. Alice is hiking over rough terrain. She walks 5 km east, then 7 km north
and then 5 km west. This takes her 3.5 hours.
(a) Calculate the distance travelled and the displacement for Alice’s trip.
(b) Calculate Alice’s average speed and velocity.
9. Hannah is jogging at a speed of 4 m/s. If she continues at this speed for 3
minutes, how far does she run?
Hint: you need to covert the time to another unit.
10. Fenella walks at a speed of 2.5 m/s and walks for a distance of 3.5 km
(3500 m). How long did this trip take her?
Challenge questions
11. A helicopter is flying on a training flight. The helicopter flies 42 km
north, then 35 km east and then 20 km south. This takes 53 minutes.
(a) Calculate the distance travelled and the displacement of the helicopter
for the entire trip.
(b) Calculate the helicopter’s average speed and velocity. State your answers
in km/h, correct to two decimal places.
12. Blue Orchid and the Yellow Devil taxi services, pick up passengers at an
airport at midday to drive to the same destination. The driver of the Yellow
Devil taxi averages 100 km/h for 4 hours, while the driver of the Blue
Orchid taxi travels more sedately for 3 hours, at an average speed of 80
km/h. At what speed must the Blue Orchid driver travel during the next
hour so that the two taxis arrive at the same place at 4 pm? Will the driver
of the Blue Orchid taxi need to break the speed limit?
13. The graph below represents the motion of a swimmer who is swimming
along a 50 m pool. They swim from one end of the pool to the other. They
start swimming back but then stop half-way.
(a) How far did they travel in the first 25 seconds?
(b) What was their average speed for the first 25 seconds?
(c) When they reached the end of the 50 m pool, did they turn around and
swim back straight away? Explain.
(d) Calculate their average speed for the entire trip.
(e) Calculate their average velocity for the entire trip (direction not needed).
ANSWERS
1. 32.5 m/s
2. (a) 16.67 km/h
(b) 4.63 m/s
3. (a) 0.9 m/s
(b) 0.1 m/s east
Don’t forget to include a direction for velocity because it is a vector.
4. 11.11 m/s
5. 29 m/s = 104.4 km/h. Yes, they are breaking the speed limit.
6. (a) 10 km/h
7. (a) 0 m
(b) 2.78 m/s south
(b) 0 m/s
8. (a) Distance = 17 km.
(b) Speed = 4.86 km/h.
(c) 12 m
(d) 2.86 m/s
Displacement = 7 km north
Velocity = 2 km/h north
9. 720 m
10. 1400 s = 23.33 minutes
11. (a) Distance = 97 km.
(b) Speed = 109.81 km/h.
Displacement = 41.34 km, N57.85°E
Velocity = 46.80 km/h, N57.85°E
12. 160 km/h. Yes, they will have to break the speed limit.
13. (a) 50 m
(b) 2 m/s
(c) No, they rested for 10 seconds before turning around.
(d) 1.25 m/s
(e) 0.42 m/s