Question

Ben walks 500 meters from his house to the corner store. He then walks back toward his house, but continues 200 meters past his house to talk to a neighbor. It takes Ben 17 minutes from the time he leaves his house until he stops to talk to his neighbor.

What is Ben’s average velocity? Round to the nearest tenth.

0.2 m/s
0.5 m/s
0.7 m/s
1.2 m/s

Answer 1

Displacement = final position − initial position = −200 m (200 m past the house, opposite the initial direction). Time = 17 min = 1020 s.

Average velocity = displacement / time = −200 m / 1020 s ≈ −0.1961 m/s.

Rounded to the nearest tenth (magnitude) = 0.2 m/s.

Answer: 0.2 m/s.