Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a bi-weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"I understood the unit conversions very well. This may be because I have a large amount of practice from chemistry for unit conversions."

"I learned the differences between displacement and distance traveled and when to use them in certain situations. I also learned the formulas and how to calculate average speed average velocity and instantaneous velocity."

"Essentially, displacement acts as a measurement of the straight-line distance between point A and B while distance traveled encompasses all of the paths made outside of the straight line--or, how it got there."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"I understand the formulas like average speed is distance divided by time but doing more problems in class to make myself more familiar and less confused would be helpful. I am also slightly confused with the symbols."

"Making the full connection between average speed, and average velocity, has me confused some with the magnitude vector and using exact distance now how to use them correctly. I also am confused on how to use instantaneous velocity and speed correctly."

"At first, instantaneous velocity was confusing for me as it raised the question, "what value is deemed small enough--in both displacement distance and time--to be considered for the instantaneous velocity formula?" However, upon further reading--actually right under the formula in the slide--you state it would result in a value APPROACHING instantaneous velocity but not actually instantaneous velocity. Basically, the more precise stuff comes later. Possibly, way later. Maybe never. You tell me."

"Limits are confusing both in calculus and physics."

"There wasn't much confusing as I have taken a previous physics course."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"If you were walking a straight line and walked back a couple of yards, then continued down the road, your distance traveled would be greater than your displacement."

"Distance could be greater than displacement, if you dropped something and had to return to pick it up and then continue in the original direction. Or possibly saw something interesting in the distance say to the right of travel direction, and walked over to see the mystical object and then continued back to the original direction. This would make the distance longer than the overall displacement value, I think?"

"Walk along straight road from initial starting point A to ending point B, but before reaching point B you turn around and walk towards point A. The total distance walked is greater than your displacement once you walk in the opposite direction."

"You would walk forward for a while then turn around or walk backwards."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	**** [4]
equal to.	**************** [16]
greater than.	***************** [17]
(More than one of the above choices.)	********* [9]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	** [2]

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.

less than.	[0]
equal to.	****************************** [30]
greater than.	[10]
(More than one of the above choices.)	*** [3]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	***** [5]

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?

Average velocity.	************ [12]
Average speed.	[0]
(Instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(Instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(More than one of the above choices.)	***************************** [29]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(All of the above choices.)	*** [3]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	** [2]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	* [1]
distance traveled.	********************************************** [46]
(instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	[0]
(instantaneous) velocity.	** [2]
(instantaneous) speed.	******************************************** [44]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

Is velocity the only quantity considered a vector?" (Of all the quantities we've considered so far (displacement/distance traveled, average velocity/speed, instantaneous velocity/speed), displacement, average velocity, and instantaneous velocity are all vectors, as they have magnitude and direction. Distance traveled, average speed, and instantaneous speed are all not vectors, as they only have (a positive) magnitude, and have no specified direction.)

"OH WAIT. I think it might be coming back to me from trigonometry. Is it that velocity is basically speed with a direction? It's pretty much speed with a direction, right? This is all confusing for me but perhaps it will make sense after class."

"I'm sorry If some of the answers are incorrect, I'm currently at a Starbucks and they're kicking us out due to it being close to closing time!"

"What is the difference between average and instantaneous speed?"

"Can you please review instantaneous speed versus velocity in class?"

"I just need more time with the instantaneous speed and velocity. The average speed and velocity I'm comfortable with."

"My question is in regards to the quiz questions on the main page. Will we be provided with conversion factors on quizzes and tests?" (Yes, as needed.)

"How do you handle quizzes with DSPS students? Since they are given at the beginning of class." (Arrangements would be made with DSPS to take the quiz before class. Midterms can be taken anytime the day of class.)

"Was the first week of school everything you ever dreamed of?" (Yes. But every first week of school is like that. What happens afterwards, well, that's a different story.)

"I feel like in physics where I struggled in the most what with over thinking when it came to anything with a number but what I found helped we was reading the chapter beforehand even if it was a glance or in class."

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2018
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a bi-weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"There are two types of paths: distance traveled (always positive) which is how far someone travels regardless of direction, and displacement (positive or negative) which is the straight-line distance someone travels from initial starting point to final ending point."

"that traveled distance is always greater than displacement. Speed deals with distance while velocity deals with displacement."

"The difference between distance and displacement--I know that distance will always be positive and measures all of the distance traveled in either direction or back and forth. On the other hand, displacement can be positive or negative and represents a straight line from the starting to end point an object traveled."

"That direction of motion isn't factored while measuring distance and speed while it is important when calculating displacement and velocity."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"When to use the symbols given for each definition, and how I would use them. Like initial position, length, displacement, average velocity, instantaneuos velocity, etc."

"The relationships between average velocity and average speed."

"I didn't really understand the instantaneous velocity. How is it that we record multiple different positions of an object? And what exactly is approachng zero? i don't understand how to apply this final concept of the reading."

"I was a little frustrated that instantaneous speed was mentioned, but it was not explained. Maybe instant speed is equal to instant velocity? I say this because perhaps instant speed is equal to small change in distance traveled divided by small change in time. And small change in distance traveled equals small change in displacement, and the time interval would be the same. But I think instant velocity has a direction, whereas instant speed does not."

"The concepts of instantaneous velocity and instantaneous speed."

"I would like a review on instantaneous velocity vs. instantaneous speed. It would help just hearing it be talked about and explained so I can see how you explain it. I know some from calculus."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"You walk your dog one mile to the store and one mile back to your house. Displacement is zero. Distance traveled is two miles."

"Walking back and forth along the straight road would allow the distance traveled to be greater than the displacement."

"Walk forwards and then also walk backwards because no matter the direction(s) traveled, distance is always accounted for."

"If you were to walk on a curved path from point A to point B, as opposed to a straight line, your distance would be longer than your displacement. Displacement is a vector measuring the shortest distance between point A and point B. Whereas distance is the actual path that was taken from point A to point B."

"Unless you are robotically programmed, I don't see human kind taking the shortest possible path on a straight road because of factors like crossing the road and maybe going left or right a little too much for some steps."

"Your distanced traveled would be longer if you went off the straight line, maybe if you did a loop and then continued on."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	*** [3]
equal to.	*********** [11]
greater than.	******************* [19]
(More than one of the above choices.)	****** [6]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	***** [5]

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.

less than.	* [1]
equal to.	************************ [24]
greater than.	******* [7]
(More than one of the above choices.)	*** [3]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	********** [10]

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?

Average velocity.	*********** [11]
Average speed.	[0]
(Instantaneous) velocity.	**** [4]
(Instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(More than one of the above choices.)	************************ [24]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(All of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	***** [5]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	****************************************** [42]
(instantaneous) velocity.	[0]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	* [1]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	* [1]
(instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(instantaneous) speed.	***************************************** [41]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Going over the multiple-choice definition questions above would be much appreciated. Thank you!"

"Confused on average speed, average velocity, snd instantaneous velocity. Examples in class would be recommended."

"Will we need to know conversions (for example, 1 cm = 2.54 in) or will you give us a sheet of conversions for the tests?" (I will always give you the conversions that are needed to solve each question. You don't need to memorize everything, other than basic time stuff (1 min = 60 s, 1 h = 60 min, 1 day = 24 h). If you can't remember those, well, you can still ask me.)

"I would really appreciate an embedded tutor." (I would, too, but my embedded tutors from last year moved away over this summer. I've submitted a list of 10-15 more candidates for the Learning Resource Center to follow up on, so we'll see.)

"If labs are completed early with time to spare, do you ever take time to go over lecture material that is still confusing to students?" (Essentially I'm paid for the entire three hours of lab, so after you finish your lab work, feel free to stick around in the time remaining and ask me questions from lecture.)

"If you add 66 + 92 + 95 = 201, should it be 201 or 200 for significant figures or considering there is no decimal place would it just be 201?" (Since you are adding these numbers, and all of them have zero decimal places, then the answer (201) will also have zero decimal places. Note that the answer now has a different amount of significant figures than any of the numbers that went into it; this is typical of the addition/subtraction rule, where you have to keep track of the least number of decimal places (and not significant figures), and as a result may have a different number significant figures for your final answer.)

"When you are adding and one number is in scientific notation and the other is not you have to change scientific notation back? For example, if you had (4.576×10³ + 350), you would have to change 4.576×10³ to 4,576?" (Yes, when applying the addition/subtraction rule, all numbers must have the same power of 10, whether you would express them as 4,576 + 350 = 4,926; or 4.576×10³ + 0.350×10³ = 4.926×10³.)

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2017
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a bi-weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"Distance traveled is always a positive quantity, secondary to it being the total distance an object travels regardless of its direction. While displacement can either be a positive or negative quantity depending on the direction the object traveled from its initial to final position."

"Distance is space traveled, always positive and displacement is the straight line from point a to point be, either positive or negative. speed is distance/time and velocity is displacement/time."

"I had a bit of a hard time understanding average velocity versus instantaneous velocity, but I think I understood it after a bit of thought. I realized that instantaneous velocity pertains to a specific instance in time. Since average velocity is the overall average it measures the displacement over a certain length of time."

"Average speed equals distance traveled divided by total time. It's always a positive quantity."

"Average speed and velocity are pretty easy to understand. Finding the average speed is done by dividing distance by elapsed time, such as miles per hour. And finding average velocity is done by dividing displacement by elapsed time."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"I am still struggling to keep significant figures straight between multiplication and addition. I tend to make simple mistakes and not have an answer that's even listed on the multiple choice."

"The differences between the different velocities and speeds kind of threw me for a loop. I'm not exactly sure about the magnitudes between them and when they are greater/less than or equal to one another."

"Something I struggled with was the instantaneous velocity and speed. Specifically how they were denoted and the equation used for instantaneous velocity and average velocity."

"I was a little confused on the difference between speed and velocity until I looked at the different examples and spoke the terms out loud."

"The most confusing points for me were what is the meaning of 'the magnitude' of anything like: average velocity, displacement, etc. Also, using some of the formulas in an actual problem might be helpful to understand the concepts better."

"I am truly lost on the instantaneous velocity. This is because the symbols used I am not familiar with and I'm just lost."

"I'm confused as to whether the speedometer would measure displacement or instantaneous speed."

"I'm still not completely following the instantaneous velocity. I understand it is the small displacement over the short time interval I just think discussing it further may make me more confident."

"There are no concepts presented in the reading that I do not understand."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"You would walk forward and then walk backwards. This way your distance traveled is more than your displacement."

"If I walk straight 10 m then go back the same way 5 m , my displacement would be 5 m, however my distance traveled would be 15 m. Is that right?"

"Honestly I know why the distance would be longer than the displacement I just cannot find the right words to describe it."

"If you were walking along a straight road, your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement if you were to walk back and forth between the initial and final points."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	** [2]
equal to.	****************** [18]
greater than.	************** [14]
(More than one of the above choices.)	********** [10]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	**** [4]

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.

less than.	***** [5]
equal to.	********************************** [34]
greater than.	***** [5]
(More than one of the above choices.)	** [2]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	** [2]

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?

Average velocity.	******* [7]
Average speed.	[0]
(Instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(Instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(More than one of the above choices.)	************************************ [36]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(All of the above choices.)	*** [3]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	********************************************** [46]
(instantaneous) velocity.	[0]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	* [1]
distance traveled.	* [1]
(instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(instantaneous) speed.	********************************************* [45]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Not sure if this pertains to the preview for Monday or review for Wednesday!" (Well, both, actually.)

"How do we calculate the velocity for an object going in circular motion?" (Just worry about one-dimensional motion for now. #toosoon)

"Should we be starting a formula sheet to start memorizing, or will we be given formulas on quizzes/exams?" (Equations are given at the bottom of the archived quizzes, and on the last page of each in-class worksheet packet online. Note: there are no equations provided for the first quiz!)

"A review of the relationships between instantaneous speed/velocity vs. average speed/velocity would be helpful."

"Clarification on the relationships between magnitudes of average/instantaneous velocity/speed?"

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2016
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a bi-weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"Velocity is different from speed although it would be easy to view them as both the same. Velocity is a measurement of both speed and direction of an object, speed doesn't measure direction. Speed is a scalar quantity, and velocity is a vector."

"the difference between displacement and distance. Displacement is just a straight line drawn from point A to B on a travel map, whereas distance is the amount of miles that you physically drove (around every curve and through every state) on the road trip."

"Average speed covers distance traveled divided by total time. Average velocity covers covers displacement, distance from initial to ending point, divided by the time interval."

"Distance traveled is fairly straightforward (pun possibly intended) being the addition of all distances traveled in any direction over a period of time. The displacement on the other hand takes into account direction and compares the starting point to the end point, allowing for negative values. Instantaneous velocity is the rate of change in displacement at a given point in time."

"Speed is the measurement of distance traveled over a specific amount of time. Velocity is basically speed in a specific direction from a reference point. This means that if you ran a lap around a track you will have a positive speed but will have no velocity because you ended at the reference point you started from and thus have no distance traveled from your initial point that the lap began at."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"just all of the different symbols for formulas that confuse me like initial time vs. ending time when you're looking at displacement. With time though I will better understand this, I just have to get used to all of the new symbols!"

"I'm slightly confused on how you can have a negative velocity. If this could be discussed in class that would be nice."

"the whole concept of instantaneous velocity and instantaneous speed. I wasn't sure how to determine whether or not the instantaneous velocity is greater, less, or equal to the instantaneous speed. I believe what through me off was the word instantaneous. On the presentation and chapter it says its just a short displacement/distance and time interval/total time, so does this mean speed and velocity can only be instantaneous if the numbers where small and/or negative?"

"There is not really anything that I did not understand. I went through and did the formulas and examples in book."

"I'm pretty confused about most of it."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"Turning around and walking back towards the starting location lowers the displacement, but it would increase the distance traveled."

"If I walked halfway down the road, realized I forgot my phone playing Pokémon Go on that bench under the tree, then walk back to the beginning of the road. If I then walked down to the end of the road my distance traveled would be much longer than my displacement because my overall displacement would be the length of the road, but my distance traveled would be twice the length of the road"

"You would walk back and forth, since distance traveled does not take direction into account, but displacement does."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	****** [6]
equal to.	***** [10]
greater than.	**************** [16]
(More than one of the above choices.)	***** [5]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	** [2]

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.

less than.	** [2]
equal to.	********************* [21]
greater than.	****** [6]
(More than one of the above choices.)	** [2]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?

Average velocity.	************ [12]
Average speed.	* [1]
(Instantaneous) velocity.	** [2]
(Instantaneous) speed.	* [1]
(More than one of the above choices.)	******************** [20]
(None of the above choices.)	[0]
(All of the above choices.)	** [2]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	** [2]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	[0]
distance traveled.	**************************************** [40]
(instantaneous) velocity.	[0]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	* [1]
(instantaneous) velocity.	**** [4]
(instantaneous) speed.	********************************* [33]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Will the equations that we have in this class need to be memorized for each quiz/test?" (No, they will be provided to you. However, for the first quiz you should memorize the SI power of ten prefixes, and basic time definitions (1 min = 60 s, 1 h = 60 min, 1 d = 24 h). But it's okay if you do have to ask about time definitions during the quiz, as I don't want to penalize you for forgetting super-basic stuff like that.)

"It would be helpful to review some scenarios or examples in class to clarify the terms such as displacement, velocity, and distance." (Looking at the class' results on these definitions, then yes, we will need to do a brief review before we start on the worksheet and problem-solving examples.)

"What is a good way to practice these new concepts?" (Well, when doing the preview reading, just try your best, and we'll go over the new concepts in class depending on how much (more) detail you need. After we covered it in class with examples and group problem-solving, then that's what homework is for. If you need more guidance on the homework, then let me know on the homework report and we can cover that in the following class, or come into office hours, or ask questions when the embedded teaching assistant and I circulate around the class.)

"What's a good way to make-up a late reading assignment?" (Well, you can't make it up, but make sure you don't miss much more of the reading assignments this semester, as there are extra ones such that you can still get your full 100/100 reading assignment points.)

"I would like you to go over some sample questions that would resemble that on a test or quiz." (Been doing that. Will still do that. And you'll be doing more of that.)

"I really think the flipped class curriculum aids in a better understanding of the material. I'm glad it allows for more time to digest certain concepts and more preparedness in coming to class knowing what concepts you're having trouble with."

"No comment." (Uh, you just did.)

"Physics makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside." (Uh, yeah. Okay.)

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2015
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a bi-weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"Displacement (magnitude) is the straight-line distance, not necessarily the distance traveled; and speed and velocity are different. Speed is distance traveled over time and velocity is the displacement over time, which has a direction."

"Instantaneous speed is just the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"The difference between distance traveled and displacement."

"There was nothing that I found confusing. But it would be nice if there was also a in-class discussion on it just to make sure that I have everything down."

"How instantaneous speed and instantaneous velocity are connected."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"You could walk back-and-forth along the same line multiple times."

"I walk 30 feet forwards and go backwards 10 feet. My distance traveled would be 40 feet, and the (magnitude of) displacement would be 20 feet."

"If the road was a snake-like curve, the distance traveled along the road would be longer than the (magnitude of the) straight-line displacement from the beginning of the road to the end of the road."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	***** [5]
equal to.	******************* [19]
greater than.	*************** [15]
(More than one of the above choices.)	************* [13]
(None of the above choices.)	*** [3]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	******* [7]

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.

less than.	**** [4]
equal to.	************************ [24]
greater than.	************************ [24]
(More than one of the above choices.)	************ [12]
(None of the above choices.)	** [2]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	******** [8]

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?

Average velocity.	*********** [11]
Average speed.	[0]
(Instantaneous) velocity.	*** [3]
(Instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(More than one of the above choices.)	***************************** [29]
(None of the above choices.)	[1]
(All of the above choices.)	****** [6]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	*** [3]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	*** [3]
distance traveled.	********************************************************* [57]
(instantaneous) velocity.	* [1]
(instantaneous) speed.	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	** [2]
distance traveled.	[0]
(instantaneous) velocity.	****** [6]
(instantaneous) speed.	****************************************************** [54]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"How do you denote the direction of a velocity when it isn't along a west-east path?" (Woah there--you're talking about two-dimensional and three-dimensional motion, which we'll get to eventually. Right now let's just concentrate on one-dimensional motion, which is east-west (or left-right, or up-down) motion.)

Physics presentation: speed and velocity

Planes, planes, and more planes. Oh wait, that's just the same plane, isn't it? (Movie link: "Paths of Flight.")

Let's introduce the different types of (one-dimensional) velocities used to describe motion along a line.

We'll first need to define two different types of "paths," as somehow measured from an initial starting point to a final ending point.

Distance traveled is conventionally how far one would travel, regardless of direction, even going back-and-forth. This is always a positive quantity, as even moving backwards is counted as distance traveled.

Displacement is the straight-line distance from the initial starting point, to the final ending point--"as the crow flies" (but not necessarily how the pigeon walks). This can be positive or negative, depending on the direction from the initial to the final location, for horizontal displacements we will use positive values to indicate displacements that point to the right, and negative values to indicate displacements that point to the left. This is always a straight line, regardless of the back-and-forth distance traveled while en route from the initial starting point to the final ending point.

In general, distance traveled will be __________ the magnitude of displacement.
(A) less than.
(B) equal to.
(C) greater.
(D) (More than one of the above choices.)
(E) (None of the above choices.)
(F) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)

With these two types of paths defined, now let's consider speed, and as it turns out, two different types of velocity.

Consider the contrail left by this airplane--definitely not straight-line travel. Estimating the distance along this curving path, and dividing that distance traveled by the time interval spent traveling along this path...

...would result in the average speed of the aircraft, as it traveled along this path. Note that this is always a positive quantity.

This is an actual view from Google Maps (courtesy of Google Sightseeing). The same plane is shown in several different locations, as seen from a satellite overhead, as it was captured on consecutive vertical passes of the imaging camera. Knowing the displacement--the straight-line distance from the initial starting point to the final ending point--and dividing that by the time interval spent traveling along this displacement...

...would result in the average velocity of the aircraft, as it traveled along this displacement. Note that this can be either a positive or a negative quantity, depending on the direction of the displacement. (Some textbooks draw a horizontal "bar" over the "v_x" to denote that it is an average quantity, which could be confused with a vector arrow--here we denote an average quantity by labeling it in the subscript, in order to avoid this confusion.)

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.
(A) less than.
(B) equal to.
(C) greater than.
(D) (More than one of the above choices.)
(E) (None of the above choices.)
(F) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)

Another actual view from Google Maps (again, courtesy of Google Sightseeing). Note the detailed monochrome image of these two planes, and the matching corresponding blurry color image for each plane. This is due to the satellite camera making two separate monochrome and color images on the same pass, but separated by a very brief time interval. In this case, taking the straight-line displacement between the initial starting point to the final ending point is correspondingly small--and dividing that by the brief time interval spent traveling along this displacement...

...would result in what would approach the instantaneous velocity of the aircraft, as it traveled along this small displacement during a brief time interval. (Note again that this can be either a positive or a negative quantity, depending on the direction of the displacement.) To properly make this an instantaneous velocity, we would do some calculus mumbo-jumbo where the limit of a vanishingly small time interval is taken in dividing into a correspondingly infinitesimal displacement.

So we have average speed, average velocity, and instantaneous velocity (although we often leave out "instantaneous" when referring to velocity, as that is implied, but strive to always explicitly leave in the "average" terminology).

In general, which of the following quantities could be negative?
(A) Average velocity.
(B) Average speed.
(C) (Instantaneous) velocity.
(D) (Instantaneous) speed.
(E) (More than one of the above choices.)
(F) (All of the above choices.)
(G) (None of the above choices.)
(H) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)

What about (instantaneous) speed? How is it related to (instantaneous) velocity?

In general, (instantaneous) speed will be __________ the magnitude of (instantaneous) velocity.
(A) less than.
(B) equal to.
(C) greater than.
(D) (More than one of the above choices.)
(E) (None of the above choices.)
(F) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!

What about your car's odometer--what quantity does that measure?

An odometer measures an object's:
(A) displacement.
(B) distance traveled.
(C) (instantaneous) velocity.
(D) (instantaneous) speed.
(E) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)

And your car's speedometer--what quantity does that measure?

A speedometer measures an object's:
(A) displacement.
(B) distance traveled.
(C) (instantaneous) velocity.
(D) (instantaneous) speed.
(E) (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2014
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.

Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe what you understand from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically demonstrate your level of understanding.

"Displacement only applies to starting and ending positions. The average speed is always positive, distance traveled over time."

"Average speed is usually larger than the magnitude for average velocity."

Describe what you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview. Your description (2-3 sentences) should specifically identify the concept(s) that you do not understand.

"I don't fully understand how short the displacement must be for instantaneous velocity."

"It seems odd that displacement can be positive or negative."

"Average speed versus average velocity."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"By walking in the opposite direction of where you plan on going, and then walking towards your destination, you will have walked further than your displacement."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	********* [9]
equal.	************* [13]
greater.	******************** [20]
(More than one of the above choices.)	****** [6]
(None of the above choices.)	****** [6]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	****** [6]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	* [1]
distance traveled.	******************************************************** [56]
(instantaneous) velocity.	** [2]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	* [1]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	[0]
distance traveled.	*** [3]
(instantaneous) velocity.	********** [10]
(instantaneous) speed.	*********************************************** [47]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Go over, maybe with an example or graph, average speed versus average velocity."

"What is the difference between displacement and distance traveled?"

"Can you go over more stuff in class rather than give us problems to do?"

"If an object starts at a location then ends up back at the starting location afterwards, wouldn't that make the displacement zero?" (Yes.)

"I am feeling overwhelmed by the material in the class already. Where can I go to get help outside of class?" (According to the Student Success Center calendar, physics tutoring is scheduled Monday-Wednesday 2:00-6:00 PM in building 3300.)

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters (Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson, Physics, 2/e, Chs. 2.1-2.2) and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.

Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.

"I found it interesting that distance traveled can only be a positive number. I never thought of moving backwards as distance traveled."

"Displacement, velocity, and average speed all seem to be very similair equations that build upon each other. This could be tricky if you do not know how each separate equation works."

"I'm kind of interested in how you intend to implement the 'flipped the classroom.' A lot of my teachers go about the generic way of teaching so this form of teaching would be new."

"The difference in cell phone opinions the further back the people were in the class."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"At first I didn't understand the average velocity equations, but after looking through the textbook and re-reading the presentation preview I began to understand it."

"The average speed and the average velocity--it's still confusing because they are similar."

"I've never been introduced to velocity so I think it's so confusing to me because there weren't very many examples explaining the concepts and I haven't listened to a lecture on it. I usually don't gain much from reading the textbook--I'm more of a lecture-based learner so once I have it thoroughly explained to me I'm hoping to better understand it."

"Conversions will be the death of me!"

Mark the level of your exposure to (basic calculus) concepts of derivatives/integrals.

None at all.	*************** [15]
Slight.	************** [13]
Some.	********* [9]
A fair amount.	************** [14]
A lot.	******** [8]

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"Not walking in a perfectly straight line, or walking forward and backtracking can cause the distance traveled to be greater than the displacement."

"I would walk straight for half the total distance I planned to travel, then turn around and walk back the other half of the total distance. My distance would be much greater than my displacement (which would be zero)."

"I would walk, then pause for a little mid-walk, then continue walking."

In general, average speed will be __________ the magnitude of average velocity.

less than.	** [2]
equal.	***************** [17]
greater.	****************** [18]
(More than one of the above choices.)	********* [9]
(None of the above choices.)	** [2]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	********** [10]

An odometer measures an object's:

displacement.	***** [5]
distance traveled.	************************************************** [52]
(instantaneous) velocity.	[0]
(instantaneous) speed.	[0]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	* [1]

A speedometer measures an object's:

displacement.	* [1]
distance traveled.	* [1]
(instantaneous) velocity.	************ [12]
(instantaneous) speed.	******************************************** [44]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"This course has challenging material, but it's helpful with this 'flipped class' approach. I always see 'read this before the next lecture' in class syllabi, but this course actually takes advantage of this approach. I get motivated to do the reading."

"I think that I get this material pretty well so far but I just wish that we had more of a lecture during class."

"I would like to go over physics in class. These last couple days I feel like the instructor assumes we know more than we actually do." (Well, inform me via this online reading assignment how much you comprehended (or did not comprehend) from the textbook and presentation, so I can take it from there.)

"Are these questions graded for credit, or simply for your knowledge on how we're understanding concepts? Do I lose points if I leave this blank?" (Yes, yes, and no, if you filled out the most of the rest of the assignment.)

"Can you give more examples on the board?" (Sure, if the assigned homework report reflects massive difficulties for the class as a whole.)

"Is there a copy of the textbook on reserve in the library?" (Yes, along with a student solutions manual. Unless someone steals this year's reserve copy, again. You know that person? Don't be that person.)

"How worried should I be about the amount of calculus we will be using?" (Don't worry, I will teach you a method of doing calculus...without knowing that you're doing calculus.)

"If we know about derivatives and integrals, are we allowed to use that on exams?" (Sure, if you want to be a show-off.)

Online reading assignment: speed and velocity

Physics 205A, fall semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on the reading textbook chapters (Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson, Physics, 2/e, Chs. Chs. 2.1-2.2) and previewing a presentation on displacement, distance traveled, and average/instantaneous speed/velocity.

Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.

"Differentiating between displacement and distance."

"Displacement of certain things can be so much less than the actual distance traveled."

"Greek letter delta actually means 'the change in...'"

"I've learned all this before. Nothing really interesting here."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"Most of it was confusing to me."

"Nothing confusing in these readings. I've taken physics before."

"Instantaneous velocity versus average velocity kind of confusing because of the limit formula for the instantaneous velocity."

Briefly describe how you would walk along a straight, level road such that your distance traveled would be longer than your displacement.

"You could walk forward for 10 feet and then backwards for 5 feet. The distance traveled is 15 feet but the displacement is only 5 feet."

"One step forward, two steps back. Story of my life."

"You could serpentine across the road. Your distance travled would be longer than your displacement."

Briefly describe the difference between an odometer and a speedometer.

"Mileage vs. speed."

"An odometer measures distance traveled, and a speedometer measures your average speed, or distance traveled divided by a short time interval."

"Odometers tracks distances traveled, while speedometers track the instantaneous speed."

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Will negative velocities always correspond to traveling west, and does this also apply to traveling south?"

"Will we need to memorize all of the equations we get in the book for tests?"

"By the time class starts Monday, I will have gone to the library to borrow the book."

"Your beard/mustache is quite impressive."