Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration

Speed, velocity, and acceleration seem to be everyone's favorite example for teaching calculus.


Definitions

For two given positions, there is a vector r⃗ between them. Taking the distance of r⃗, i.e. ||r⃗||, gives the... distance.

In R1, velocity is the rate of change in position; speed would then be an equivalent concept. However, in higher dimensions velocity is a vector (e.g., v⃗ = dr⃗/dt = [dx/dt dy/dt dz/dt] in R3) and speed is given by ||v⃗||.

Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. In higher dimension where velocity is a vector, so too is acceleration. For example, a⃗ = dv⃗/dt = [d2x/dt2 d2y/dt2 d2z/dt2].


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Calculus/SpeedVelocityAndAcceleration (last edited 2025-09-29 15:44:42 by DominicRicottone)