Question

How is instantaneous velocity different from average velocity?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to understand what an instantaneous velocity and an average velocity is to analyse the difference between both the velocity quantities. The velocity will be dependent on different factors depending on the type as we will see for these.

Complete Solution:
The velocity at the very basic is defined as the rate of change of displacement of a moving body. It is the change in displacement per unit time. The velocity is a vector quantity which has both magnitude and direction. A change in direction without a change in the magnitude also contributes to a change in the velocity as we can see in the uniform circular motions, where speed is the constant quantity.

We are given the two types of velocity – the instantaneous velocity and the average velocity.
We can easily understand from the words itself what these two quantities mean.

The instantaneous velocity refers to the velocity of the body at every instant of time. It is mentioned as the velocity at a particular instant of time.

The average velocity is the velocity of the body taken from the total distance travelled and the total time taken. To calculate the average velocity, we don’t need the velocity at any instant, but just the total displacement and the total time taken, i.e.,
\[{{v}_{avg}}=\dfrac{\text{Displacement}}{\text{Time}}\]

Also, the instantaneous velocity is independent of the displacement or the time taken by the body, it is the velocity at the moment.

This is the required solution.

Note:
The instantaneous velocity is displayed by the speedometer in automobiles throughout the journey. The applications which show the route of the journey gives a final report on the travel with a speed which is the average velocity of the whole travel.