Question 33 - Problems - Chapter 2

Problem:

A squirrel walks along a telephone cable, occasionally stopping, even turning back once before proceeding.

The squirrel's position as a function of time is shown in Figure below.

Question:

a) What is the average speed for the entire time shown, 0<t<30 s?

b) The average velocity for the entire time?

Solution:

The time of the part	The displacement of the part
$$\Delta t_1 = 8s$$	$$\Delta s_1=6m$$
$$\Delta t_2 = 4s$$	$$\Delta s_2=0m$$
$$\Delta t_3 = 6s$$	$$\Delta s_3=6m$$
$$\Delta t_4 = 2s$$	$$\Delta s_4=0m$$
$$\Delta t_5 = 2s$$	$$\Delta s_5=-2m$$
$$\Delta t_6 = 2s$$	$$\Delta s_6=0m$$
$$\Delta t_7 = 6s$$	$$\Delta s_7=6m$$

import numpy as np
t = 8 + 4 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6
d_s = 6 + 0 + 6 + 0 - 2 + 0 + 6
s = 6 + 0 + 6 + 0 + 2 + 0 + 6
v_v = d_s / t
v_s = s/t
print(f'a) The squarel\'s average speed is: {v_s:.2f} m/s')
print(f'b) The squarel\'average velocity is: {v_v:.2f} m/s')

a) The squarel's average speed is: 0.67 m/s
b) The squarel'average velocity is: 0.53 m/s