- 1). Set up the equation. Velocity, or average speed, is calculated with the following formula: velocity = distance/time.
- 2). Break down the distance part of the equation. Since you are calculating velocity, you are clearly working with an object that is moving. Know the starting position of the object and the ending position of the object to calculate velocity accurately. As such, distance can be broken down like this: distance 1 - distance 2.
As of now, the equation looks like this: velocity = (distance 2 - distance 1) /time. - 3). Break down the time part of the equation. When you look at the different distances, there will be a corresponding time. For example, a ball rolling down the hill can travel 7 feet in 3 seconds. The 3 seconds will be the corresponding time measurement. When you have two time measurements, you must subtract them to get the time elapsed. Thus, the time part of the equation can be broken down like this: time 1 - time 2.
The equation now should look like this: velocity = (distance 2 - distance 1) / (velocity 2 - velocity 1) - 4). Insert the numbers into the equation. As an example, suppose a ball is rolling down a hill. At 4 seconds, the ball traveled 5 feet. At 8 seconds the ball traveled 10 feet. The equation should look like the following: velocity = (10-5)/(8-4) = 5/4 = 1.25 feet per second.
- 1). Set up the equation. Acceleration = change in velocity/time.
- 2). Break down the change in velocity part of the equation. Change in velocity is the different between the starting velocity and the ending velocity. Thus, change in velocity is velocity 2 - velocity 1.
The velocity equation should look like this: acceleration= (velocity 2 - velocity 1)/time - 3). Input the numbers into the equation. As an example, suppose over 10 seconds, a ball rolling down a hill went from traveling 2 meters per second to 4 meters per second. The equation will look like the following: acceleration = (4 - 2)/10 = 2/10 = .2 m/s^2.
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