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An object's instantaneous velocity is its velocity at any one moment in time. When the police use a radar gun on a passing car, they are trying to determine the speed of the car at one moment, not over a time interval.

Instantaneous velocity, like average velocity, is a vector; it has both magnitude and direction.

Consider again the car that travels 40 miles down the road in an hour. If the car moved at a uniform speed the whole time, then the instantaneous velocity at any time is 40 mph, down the road.

But while it is true that the car's average velocity is 40 mph down the road, its instantaneous velocity at any time in that hour could be anything. The car could be at a dead stop 30 minutes into the drive; we would say that the car's instantaneous velocity is zero at that time. At 45 minutes, the car could be headed back towards the starting point!

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Originally posted by daemoncel

An object's instantaneous velocity is its velocity at any one moment in time. When the police use a radar gun on a passing car, they are trying to determine the speed of the car at one moment, not over a time interval.

Instantaneous velocity, like average velocity, is a vector; it has both magnitude and direction.

Consider again the car that travels 40 miles down the road in an hour. If the car moved at a uniform speed the whole time, then the instantaneous velocity at any time is 40 mph, down the road.

But while it is true that the car's average velocity is 40 mph down the road, its instantaneous velocity at any time in that hour could be anything. The car could be at a dead stop 30 minutes into the drive; we would say that the car's instantaneous velocity is zero at that time. At 45 minutes, the car could be headed back towards the starting point!

I totally understood that.

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