Does a cars speedometer measure speed or velocity or both?

Answer 1

Yes it does, it measures miles per hour (mph) and kilometers per hour (kph), which is basically your speed. Some cars have speedometers that go up to a higher or lower speed, but don't worry about that. Also there tends to be more kilometers per hour than miles per hour on any given speedometer.

Answer 2

No, 'speed'ometers in cars measure instantaneous speed, which is a scalar quantity. Velocity is a vector quantity, and it is speed plus a direction vector. An example of speed might be 55 miles per hour, while an example of velicity might be 55 miles per hour to the east.

Answer 3

A speedometer measures speed only and not velocity. Velocity is a measure speed of travel and the direction of travel. A GPS unit would measure velocity as it would measure both speed and direction of travel.

Answer 4

An automobile speedometer measures speed. That is why it is called a speedometer rather than a velocimeter.

It tells you how fast the car is moving, not in what direction it is moving, so speed, not velocity.

Answer 5

A cars speedometer measures speed, which is the rate of motion in a certain direction. Velocity is a vector quantity that includes both speed and direction, while speed is a scalar quantity that only includes the rate of motion.

Answer 6

no. a SPEEDometer measures SPEED. not velocity: direction

Answer 7

A speedometer measures speed. The odometer measures distance traveled. The velocity is not known because the direction of the traveling car cannot be predetermined.

Answer 8

Why? Because that's what it was designed for - people want to know how fast their car goes.

Answer 9

the speedometer in a car measures the car's instantaneous speed. Note the scale markings are given both in k/m and in miles per hour, mph.