Velocity — AQA GCSE Physics
Test yourself on Velocity with AQA GCSE practice questions.
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Velocity explained
Because a direction is part of it, a velocity changes whenever either the speed or the direction changes.
Read the full explanation
A car driving round a bend at a steady 13 m/s has a constant speed but a changing velocity, and average-speed cameras can only report a speed, since the road between them is not straight. Constant velocity therefore means moving in a straight line at a steady rate, and anything else is accelerating. On a straight road, opposite directions are handled with signs, so a vehicle travelling at 20 m/s that turns round and comes back at 20 m/s has changed its velocity by 40 m/s. Velocity is measured in metres per second, exactly like speed, so the unit alone never tells you which quantity you are holding.
Your focus
- Explain why a vehicle on a curved road has a changing velocity at constant speed.
- Calculate the change of velocity when a vehicle reverses its direction of travel.
- State the conditions required for an object to move with constant velocity.
Velocity exam tips
Marking Points
- one mark for velocity as a speed in a given direction
- one mark for velocity as a vector and speed as a scalar
- one mark for a change of direction counting as a change of velocity
- one mark for constant velocity requiring motion in a straight line at a steady speed
Examiner Tips
- 💡If the path is not straight, the velocity is changing; say so explicitly.
- 💡Quote both the magnitude and the direction whenever a velocity is asked for.
Common Mistakes
- saying velocity and speed are the same because they share a unit
- claiming a car on a bend at a steady rate has constant velocity
- giving a velocity with no direction
- asserting that a changing velocity always means a changing speed