Question

The ratio of average velocity to average speed is always _____ one.

• A. greater than
• B. less than or equal to
• C. greater than or equal to
• D. less than

Answer 1

The correct option is B

less than or equal to

Average velocity :

The average velocity of an object is the entire displacement divided by the total time elapsed. In other words, it is the rate at which an entity moves from one location to another. It's a quantity with a vector. The average velocity formula is as follows:

$Averagevelocity=\frac{Totaldisplacement}{Totaltimetaken}$

Average speed :

The average speed of an object is the total distance divided by the entire time taken. It's a scalar quantity. The formula for calculating average speed is as follows:

$Averagespeed=\frac{Totaldistancecovered}{Totaltimetaken}$

Now by taking the ratio of average velocity to average speed, we get,

$Averagevelocity:\hspace{0.17em}Averagespeed=\frac{Totaldisplacment}{Totaldis\tan cecovered}$

Explanation for correct option:

1. As we know that displacement can be equal to or less than the distance but it cannot be greater than the distance.
2. So, the ratio of average velocity to average speed is always equal to or less than one.

Hence, option B is the correct option.