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Think of average velocity as "overall" velocity. For example, if I walk down the block (let's say it's a distance of 100 meters), and it takes me 5 minutes, my AVERAGE velocity is just:

v_ave = Δx/Δt

where Δx is the change in position and Δt is the elapsed time.

v_ave = (100 m) / (5 min)
v_ave = (100 m) / (300 sec)
v_ave = (1/3) m/s

But instantaneous velocity is a different concept: let's say for a while I walked, then I jogged, then I stopped, then I sprinted, then I walked. The overall trip still ended up taking me 5 minutes, so my average velocity is just as I've calculated it above, but my INSTANTANEOUS velocity changes as I change speeds at any given time in between.

Hope this helps!

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15y ago

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