This seems like a cut and dry case of two tags that should be combined. Am I missing something?
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$\begingroup$ scalar vs vector? $\endgroup$– Organic MarbleAug 28, 2020 at 18:30
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$\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble Is that really enough to merit separate tags? $\endgroup$– called2voyage ModAug 28, 2020 at 18:31
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$\begingroup$ I've no idea. But there is a difference. $\endgroup$– Organic MarbleAug 28, 2020 at 18:31
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3$\begingroup$ A difference between the terms sure, but not sure there's a meaningful difference between the topics $\endgroup$– called2voyage ModAug 28, 2020 at 18:32
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1 Answer
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While there may be a small distinction in that "speed" only applies to the absolute value of the velocity vector while the word "velocity" is commonly used both for the speed and the velocity vector, they certainly don't need separate tags.
One generally uses the letter "v" as in $v=\sqrt{GM/a}$ for speed as well as $\mathbf{v}$ as in $\mathbf{L} = m \mathbf{r} \times \mathbf{v}$ and in both contexts it's common to use the word "velocity" to refer to both the vector and it's scalar length.
Because of this users may be satisfied finding either one first and then not looking for the other, so if one is searching using one tag one may not find questions tagged with the other.
Since "velocity" is regularly used for both quantities, the velocity should survive and appear as an option when "speed" is typed in the tag box.
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