In this article we will learn about the Unit of Measurement for Velocity and Speed. One of the most used physical quantities we experience in our everyday lives is Speed and Velocity.
Introduction
The rate of change of displacement that a particle or an object undergoes over a period of time is generally known as the velocity of an object. Velocity is defined as a physical vector quantity, that must be defined in terms of both direction and magnitude.
Speed and velocity, on the other hand, must not be confused. There is a significant difference between these two quantities. First and foremost difference between them is that velocity is a vector quantity and speed is a scalar quantity. Velocity informs us about the object’s speed and direction of motion, while speed tells us how fast the object is travelling. Although it’s important to note that, we’ll focus on the unit of measurement of both velocity and speed in this article.
Unit of Measurement for Velocity and Speed
Velocity is a vector quantity, which means that it must be described in terms of both directions and magnitude. SPEED is the scalar type of Velocity, which only includes magnitude.
Unit of Measurement for Velocity
We know that
$$Velocity=\frac{Displacement}{Time}$$
Here, the unit for Displacement of the object under consideration is m (meter) in SI system of unit and unit for time is s (second) in SI system. So we can say that unit of velocity is a derived unit made up of two fundamental units namely meter and second. So,
$$\text{Unit of Velocity}=\frac{\text{Unit of Displacement}}{\text{Unit of Time}}=\frac{meter}{second}=ms^{-1}$$
So we can say that the unit of velocity is a derived unit as it has been expressed in the fundamental units of length and time.
Unit of Measurement for Speed
Let us now talk about speed. We know that,
$$Speed=\frac{Distance}{Time}$$
Here, the unit for Distance of the object under consideration is m (meter) in SI system of unit and unit for time is s (second) in SI system. So we can say that the unit of speed is also a derived unit made up of two fundamental units namely meter and second. So,
$$\text{Unit of Speed}=\frac{\text{Unit of Distance}}{\text{Unit of Time}}=\frac{meter}{second}=ms^{-1}$$
We can therefore say that the unit of speed is a unit derived as expressed in basic units of time and length.
Unit of Measurement for Velocity and speed is same
From the above discussion we can clearly see that both velocity and speed same unit for measurement and that is
The SI unit of both velocity and speed is meter per second $(ms^{-1})$
Other Units for measuring Speed and Velocity
Some of the other units that identify velocity are:
- Kilometres per hour
- Knot (unit)
- Feet per minute
- Foot per second
- Meter per hour
- Miles per hour
- Inch per second
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