Question
A passenger arriving in a new town wishes to go from the station to a hotel located 10 km away on a straight road from the station. A dishonest taxi driver takes him along a circuitous path 23 km long and reaches the hotel in 28 minutes.
What is:
(a) the average speed of the taxi?
(b) the magnitude of average velocity? Are the two equal?
Solution
Given,
Magnitude of displacement = 10 km
Total path length = 23 km
Time taken = 28 min = 7/15 hr.
Therefore,
Magnitude of average velocity is,
Therefore, we can see that the average speed and magnitude of average velocity are not equal.