Kinematic Concepts - Mission KC4 Detailed Help

A car that is moving at a constant velocity of 20 m/s, east for 10 seconds has an acceleration of ____ m/s/s.



 
Definition of Acceleration:
The acceleration of an object is the rate at which the object changes its velocity.


 
Accelerating objects are changing their velocity. Velocity is often thought of as an object's speed with a direction. Thus, objects that are accelerating are either speeding up, slowing down or changing directions. Consistent with the equation in the Formula Frenzy section, an object that is moving with a constant velocity has no change in velocity and thus a zero acceleration.


 
Acceleration (a) is the rate of change in an object's velocity. It is determined from knowledge of a velocity change (Δv) and the change in time (Δt) over which the velocity changes.
 
a = Δvelocity / Δtime = Δv / Δt