Can an object move faster than its average speed?

Answer 1

Yes, an average speed is only the difference between the highest and lowest speeds over a specified length of time. If an object accelerates from a standing start, accelerates to 10 metres per second over ten seconds and then slows to a stop at the same rate, the average speed would be 5 m/s. It is more difficult to calculate an accurate average speed when travelling at varying speeds.

Answer 2

Of course.

The instantaneous can be less than the average:

Your average speed from your home to your job is probably somewhere between

5 and 40 miles per hour. Your instantaneous speed when you're stopped at red light

along the way is zero.

The instantaneous can be more than the average:

If you have to drive home in a blizzard, or during rush hour on the LA Freeway, you

may have to crawl bumper to bumper for an hour, and your average speed for the

trip may be only 5 miles per hour. But your instantaneous speed as you enter the

freeway, or when you finally reach the street where you live, may be 10 miles per hour.

Answer 3

Yes. For example, a vehicle that travels 25 mph for an hour and then 75 mph for an hour has an average speed of 50 mph though it spent half that time traveling much faster.

Answer 4

yes

Answer 5

Yes.