Question

Which of the following can sometimes be 'zero' for a moving body?
(i) average velocity
(ii) distance travelled
(iii) average speed
(iv) displacement

Options

• only (i)

• (i) and (ii)

• (i) and (iv)

•  only (iv)

Answer 1

(i) and (iv)

Distance is the length of the actual path covered by a moving body. This implies that the distance travelled by a moving body and also its average speed can never be zero at any point of time. However, it is possible for the displacement as well as average velocity for the body to be zero at an instance during the motion of the particle.