Different Types of Speed

The first known measurement of speed was done by the great Italian physicist known as Galileo Galilei. He recorded the distance travelled by a body and the time it takes to do so. According to Galileo speed can be defined as distance travelled per unit of time. 

The formula according to Galileo is : v=d/t  . 

V is used to denote the speed of an object and on the other hand d and t are used to distance travelled and time consumed , respectively. Example:  Speed of a bike is 30km/hr , this means that the bike travels 30 km in an hour and that is the speed of the bike. 

The different types of speed

Speed can be of various types, here are the types of speed :-

Instantaneous speed 

The speed of a body which is gathered in a relatively shorter period of time Or in an instance is known as instantaneous speed of a body. 

Formula of instantaneous speed is :- V=ds/dt

Here this case specifies that the velocity is constant which also means that the is also constant in a straight line. The simplified form of the formula is v=s/t.

Average speed

Average speed is the total distance covered in a specific time interval. For example:- A bus travels 65 km in the time span of 1hr , making the average speed 65km/hr.

However, average speed does not clarify the confusions regarding the changes in speed and variations during that time period . Usually average speed is used to calculate the speed of a journey which took a particular amount of time to finish and had many variations in speed such as, a journey of 5 hours in which 50 km of travel was done. This makes the average speed 10km/hr by dividing the total distance travelled by the time taken for completing the journey. 

Uniform speed

Uniform speed can be defined as the speed of a body where the body covers equal distances in same time intervals . 

For example:- A bus is travelling a 200 km journey, the first 50 km were covered in a time of 1 hour. In the second hour 50 km were again covered. The third hour saw a similar covering of distance , which was 50 km again in the third hour. The last hour saw them completing the journey by covering the remaining 50 km. Here we saw that there was no change in the speed of the bus and it travelled the entire 200 km of the journey at the same speed . This is known as uniform speed. 

Variable speed

Variable speed is that type of speed in which a body covers different distances at fixed intervals of time and vice-versa. 

For example:- A bike travelling a 100 km journey completes it in 2 hours. Observations are made that the bike travelled 20 km in the first 30 minutes and then travelled 30 km in the next 30 minutes. The bike is observed to travel 35 km and 15km in the next two spans of 30 minutes respectively . Here we can see different speeds for the same time periods . 

Variable speed can occur due to many reasons like increased or decreased speed due to obstructions on the path to be travelled or any mechanical error , etc. 

Conclusion 

In today’s world we use the speed in many places while driving and other fields. Speed makes it easy for us to know the distance we travel in a particular time span. It also helps in figuring out the time it takes for a body to travel a particular distance from an initial point. The different types of speed are used in different ways to keep a note of distance and time. The most frequently used type of speed is average speed as it is used to determine the time taken to travel while reaching a destination with many fluctuations in speed on the way.