Consider the instantaneous velocity of a body. This velocity is always in the direction of...
a)the least resistance at that instant
b)the motion at that instant
c)the net force at that instant
The instantaneous velocity of a body is always in the direction of the motion at that instant. This means that it indicates the direction in which the body is currently moving.
To understand why the answer is "b) the motion at that instant," let's start by defining instantaneous velocity. Instantaneous velocity is the velocity of an object at a specific moment in time. It represents the speed and direction of motion of the object at that very moment.
When an object is in motion, its velocity is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude (speed) and direction. The magnitude of the instantaneous velocity is given by the speed of the object at that instant. The direction of the instantaneous velocity is the same as the direction in which the object is moving at that specific moment.
It's important to note that the velocity of an object can change if there is an unbalanced force acting on it. However, the instantaneous velocity at any given moment will always point in the direction of the motion at that instant. This is because velocity is a measure of how an object's position changes with time, and at any moment, it tells us the direction in which the object is currently moving.
Option "c) the net force at that instant" is incorrect because the net force acting on an object does not determine the direction of its instantaneous velocity. The net force affects the acceleration of the object, not the direction of its instantaneous velocity.
To determine the instantaneous velocity of a body, you can measure the displacement of the object over a very small interval of time and divide it by the change in time. The direction is then determined by observing the object's motion during that small interval.