Explain, with examples, the terms "average velocity" and "instantaneous velocity".?

Answer 1

"Average velocity" describes the average velocity over a period of time.

"Instaneous velocity" describes the instant velocity at a specific point in time.

Example:

If you're in your car and you go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, then:

Average velocity for the 5 seconds is 12 mph.
Instaneous velocity is:
At t=0, 0mph.
At t=1, 12mph.
At t=2, 24mph.
At t=3, 36mph.
At t=4, 48mph.
At t=5, 60mph.

Answer 2

Average velocity is found by taking your total distance traveled and dividing by how long it took you to get there.

Your instantaneous velocity is how fast you are going at any point during the trip.

Example:

You and a friend have a 60 mile trip to make.

For the first 30 miles, you go at 90 miles per hour, only eating up 20 minutes of time. (t = d / v and 1/3 hour = 20 minutes)

However, the cop pulls you over for breaking the law and you sit there for 20 minutes while he writes you up (unless the driver is female, in which case you might get away with it).

You then get back up to your 90 miles per hour speed once the cop is gone and finish the trip after another 20 minutes of driving.

Your instantaneous velocity that the cop didn't like was 90 mph.

However, your average velocity was 60 miles / 60 minutes = 60 mph.

Hope that helps.