Question

A girl is riding her scooter and finds that its speedometer reading is constant. Is it possible for her scooter to be accelerating and if so, how?

Answer 1

Yes, even if the scooter’s speedometer shows a steady speed, it is still normal for it to be accelerating. The rate at which velocity changes is known as acceleration. Velocity has both magnitude (speed) and direction, making it a vector quantity. The scooter is accelerating if it is travelling along a curving course at a constant speed since its direction is constantly changing, which also causes its velocity to change.