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An aircraft travels at a constant velocity - AQA - GCSE Physics - Question 7 - 2020 - Paper 1
Question 7
An aircraft travels at a constant velocity. How is the velocity of the aircraft different to the speed of the aircraft? [1 mark]
Worked Solution & Example Answer:An aircraft travels at a constant velocity - AQA - GCSE Physics - Question 7 - 2020 - Paper 1
Step 1
How is the velocity of the aircraft different to the speed of the aircraft?
Answer
Velocity and speed are both measures of how fast an object is moving, but they have key differences.
- Direction: Velocity is a vector quantity, which means it includes direction. For example, an aircraft traveling north at 250 m/s has a velocity.
- Scalar Quantity: Speed, on the other hand, is a scalar quantity. It only measures how fast an object is moving without any regard to direction. Therefore, saying an aircraft travels at 250 m/s purely refers to its speed without indicating its direction.