How do you figure the average speed of something? What is the formula is what I really need. :)
divide the total distance by the total time. That gives the average SPEED.
If you divide the total DISPLACEMENT (which includes the effect of the directions of the VELOCITY vectors) by the total time you get the average VELOCITY
for example
walk one mile north at 1 mile/hr
then
walk one mile east at 1 mile per hour
your DISTANCE walked is 2 miles in two hours so your average speed was one miles/hour
BUT
your DISPLACEMENT VECTOR was 1.414 miles Northeast.
so
your average VELOCITY VECTOR was 1.414/2 = .707 miles/hour NORTHEAST
(note velocity has both speed and direction. Speed only has speed.
For speed and distance you need a speedometer and a clock. For velocity you need a speedometer, clock AND a compass.