Investing acceleration

• Speed


  How fast you are moving
• Velocity


  Speed in a certain direction
• Acceleration


  How quickly you change velocity or direction
• Vector


  Any quantity that has a direction
• Force


  A vector
• Calculating acceleration


  1. Know change in velocity

  2. Know time taken

  3. Use the equation: acceleration = change in velocity / time
• Unit of acceleration


  m/s²
• Deceleration


  When an object slows down
• Measuring acceleration


  1. Measure change in velocity

  2. Measure time taken for change
• Investigating acceleration


  1. Set up apparatus

  2. Mark start point

  3. Release trolley

  4. Time to light gate

  5. Record velocity

  6. Repeat with increased weight

  7. Calculate acceleration

  8. Plot graph
• Start with 0.2 N on the hanger
• Record the time taken for the velocity to change
• Input the length of the card on the trolley into the data logger
• Calculate the acceleration for each falling weight
• Acceleration


  Velocity through the light gate / Time taken to the light gate
• Plot a graph to show how increasing the pulling force changes the acceleration
• Acceleration of an object

  How fast it is moving
• Change in velocity


  How quickly it is changing in velocity
• Light gate is used to measure the final velocity of the trolley
• Calculate the acceleration of a sprinter if they accelerate from 0 to 11 m/s in 1.2 seconds