Acceleration

• Calculating Uniform Acceleration

  • Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity
  • In other words, it describes how much an object's velocity changes every second
  • The equation below is used to calculate the average acceleration of an object:

  A) acceleration

  B) velocity

  C) time

  
• • The change in velocity is found by the difference between the initial and final velocity, as written below:

  change in velocity = final velocity − initial velocity

  Δv = v − u

  • Where:
  • v = final velocity in metres per second (m/s)
  • u = initial velocity in metres per second (m/s)
• Speeding Up & Slowing Down

  • An object that speeds up is accelerating
  • An object that slows down is decelerating
  • The acceleration of an object can be positive or negative, depending on whether the object is speeding up or slowing down
  • If an object is speeding up, its acceleration is positive
  • If an object is slowing down, its acceleration is negative (sometimes called deceleration)
• Uniform Acceleration

  • The following equation of motion applies to objects moving with uniform (constant) acceleration:

  (final speed)2 − (initial speed)2 = 2 × acceleration × distance travelled

  • Where:
  • x = distance travelled in metres (m)
  • u = initial speed in metres per second (m/s)
  • v = final speed in metres per second (m/s)
  • a = acceleration in metres per second squared (m/s2)
  • This equation is used to calculate quantities such as initial or final speed, acceleration, or distance travelled in cases where the time taken is not known