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 cabman takes him along a circuitous path 23 km long and reaches the hotel in 28 min. What is (a) the average speed of the taxi, (b) the magnitude of average velocity? Are the two equal?
Given:
Shortest distance from station to hotel(d1) = displacement= 10km
Circuitous path distance from station to hotel(d2) = 23km
Time taken to reach the hotel (t) = 28min
= 28/60 hr
= 0.467 hr
(a)
=
= 49.25 km/hr
Explanation: When speed of the body is calculated, the distance travelled by it other than the shortest distance is considered.
Average speed of the taxi is 49.25 km/hr
(b)
=
= 21.413 km/hr
Explanation: Velocity of a body is being calculated, the shortest/ straight line distance travelled by it is considered