Topic 1.2: Practice Sheet — Average Velocity & Average Speed
Name: _______________________________ Date: _______________ Period: ______
Directions: Show your work for every problem — a correct answer with no work shown earns partial credit at best. Circle or box your final answer.
Warm-Up Level (straightforward, one-step)
- A car travels 150 miles in 3 hours, all in the same direction. Find its average velocity.
- A runner completes a 400 m lap (starting and finishing at the same point) in 80 s. Find the average speed and the average velocity.
Standard Level (multi-step, matches typical AP Classroom depth)
- A train travels 60 km east in 1 hour, then 20 km west in 30 minutes. Find the average speed and average velocity for the whole trip.
- A delivery van covers 3 legs of a trip: 10 km in 15 min, 8 km in 10 min, and 12 km in 20 min, all in the same direction. Find the average velocity for the entire trip (hint: use total distance and total time, not the average of the three individual speeds).
- A swimmer completes 4 laps of a 50 m pool (200 m total) in 3 minutes, ending back at the starting wall. Find the average speed and average velocity for the swim.
AP-Level (multi-part: calculate + justify/represent/predict-a-change)
- A cyclist rides 12 km east in 40 minutes, then rides back west, arriving home a total of 100 minutes after starting. a) Find the average speed for the entire trip. b) Find the average velocity for the entire trip. c) A classmate says "since the average velocity is smaller than the average speed, the cyclist must have pedaled slower on the way back." Explain why this reasoning is flawed.
- A hiker's average velocity for a 2-hour hike is 1.5 km/h north. If the hike had instead taken 3 hours to cover the exact same net displacement, would the average velocity increase, decrease, or stay the same? Explain your reasoning first, then calculate the new average velocity to check.
Keep this sheet — it's part of your semester study materials, same as your Concept Sheets.