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ELI5: difference between speed and velocity

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cicixzm
Field Medic
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28 posts 4 Apr 2019 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:53 #1

ELI5: difference between speed and velocity

cicixzm - ET pubs
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Neinsprot
Panzer Ace
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107 posts 9 May 2018 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:54 #2

Speed is in any direction. Velocity is in a certain direction.

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zcybersky
Field Medic
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28 posts 7 Nov 2021 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:55 #3

Velocity is speed plus direction. 5mph is a speed 5mph west is a velocity. All velocities are speeds but not all speeds are velocities

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cecestay
Engineer
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38 posts 22 May 2026 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:56 #4

The difference is direction. Speed starts at 0 and only goes up. That's all it is. Velocity is allowed to be negative, or provide an angle or direction in which it points and negative numbers means the opposite direction.

cecestay - D&D nights
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Frag_Machine
Clan Elder
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218 posts 1 Dec 2018 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:57 #5

Velocity is a vector, it has a magnitude and direction, . Speed is a magnitude, sqrt(x\^2+y\^2+z\^2).

Frag_Machine - Comp fragger
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LTD_PMC_FEMBOY
Engineer
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39 posts 2 Jul 2021 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:57 #6

Good explanation. I feel like OP could’ve just done a quick google search for this and didn’t need to ask Reddit lol

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lzmxbos
Field Medic
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25 posts 19 Mar 2019 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:58 #7

This is the big difference. Once you set the frame for direction, you can have negative velocities. Or your velocity can be broken down into dimensional components, vectors at right angles to each other that sum to your final velocity.

Speed a general term for I don’t care what direction I’m going, I can how fast I’m going.

Speed is usually in most frames just the absolute value of your velocity.

lzmxbos - NA nights
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jason_zhuang
Field Medic
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30 posts 27 Mar 2025 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:59 #8

Speed just says how fast you are going. Velocity also gives a direction. Speed would be saying I am going 60mph, while velocity says I am traveling 60mph north east. You can also say you are traveling -15mph in the north east direction to say you are going 15mph south west.

Usually on a coordinate graph it works just like plotting a ray.

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EmperorBlackWolf
Field Medic
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23 posts 17 Dec 2020 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 16:59 #9

Ones Vector ones a Scalar. This just means one knows where it's going

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bruce_invincible
Covert Ops
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58 posts 10 Jan 2024 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 17:01 #10

That’s true of literally every question on this subreddit.

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Blackcore98
Field Medic
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34 posts 21 Nov 2020 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 17:02 #11

ELI5 version, it's the difference between saying "I'm driving at 60 mph" (speed) and "I'm driving at 60 mph north" (velocity).

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bladeekkek
Field Medic
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31 posts 30 Jul 2019 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 17:02 #12

Velocity is a Latin root word that just mean speed. Then English (Germanic root) speakers borrowed the word and changed the meaning to also include direction. So in English speed means just how fast something is going and velocity also means how fast something is going and what direction is going. In Latin root languages when we want to include heading you include vectorial. Like this, vectorial velocity

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aim2please
Engineer
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48 posts 15 Sep 2023 joined
7 Sep 2026 at 17:03 #13

You think in such three dimensional terms. How small you’ve become.

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