Acceleration and velocity

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

Velocity = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

Displacement may or may not equal to distance:

Displacement = distance in value when an object travels in a straight line and never
takes a turn
Displacement ≠ distance if the object changes direction

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦−𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

Acceleration = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

e.g. I walk 100 meters away from home, arriving at a bus stop in 25 seconds. I then
took a turn and returned home in 40 seconds.

Calculate my average speed (distance / time)?

200/65 = 3.077…… m s-1.
Calculate my average velocity (change in position / time)?
Since I ended up at the same point where I started, my displacement = 0 hence my
velocity = 0/65 = 0 m s-1.

Distinguish between acceleration and velocity

a v Example of motion
0 0 An object resting on a surface
0 Non-zero  Rocket in outer space, far away from any gravitation field,
engine off
 Airplane flying in mid-air at constant speed in a straight
line
 Object sliding on smooth horizontal surface with no
friction
 Sky-diving person, parachute open, weight = drag
Non-zero 0 “Momentarily at rest” situations:
 Object tossed straight up in the air, at the highest point
 Object attached to a swinging pendulum, at an end-point
 Object attached to the end of an oscillating spring, at an
endpoint

Non-zero Non-zero
Acceleration vs deceleration

e.g. An object travelling at 6 m/s slows down to 3 m/s over the course of 8 seconds.
Calculate the “acceleration” of the object using the equation for acceleration.

𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 − 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 3 − 6 3

𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = = = − 𝑚 𝑠 −2
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 8 8
Often (but not always), a negative sign in front of the acceleration value corresponds
to an object slowing down.

More general however……

When v and a have the same sign, the object is “speeding up” i.e. accelerating in the
normal sense
When v and a have opposite signs, then the object is slowing down

v a What the object is doing Everyday example

positive positive Object speeding up in a Elevator accelerating
forward direction upwards as it leaves the
ground floor and travels
towards a higher floor
positive negative Object slowing down Elevator decelerating as it
while travelling forward is about to arrive at the
target floor
negative negative Object speeding up in the Elevator speeding up as it
backward direction returns from a higher floor
to the ground floor
negative positive Object slowing down in Elevator slowing down as
the backward direction it is about to reach ground
floor
2) Complete the following table on accelerating or decelerating objects

Real life situation Acceleration or Starting Final velocity Time

deceleration velocity
Car speeding up 1.5 m/s2 forward 12 m/s 1.5 = (v-12)/6 6 seconds
forward v = 21 m/s
(forward)
Car slowing down Slowing down, 30 m/s 25.5 m/s -0.5=(25.5-30)/x

0.5 m/s2 forward forward -0.5 = -4.5/x

x = -4.5/-0.5 = 9

Dropping an object 10 m/ s2 down 0 m/s 3 seconds

from rest
Object thrown straight 10 m/ s2 down 45 m/s up 3 seconds
up into the air
Object thrown 10 m/ s2 down 45 m/s 3 seconds
downwards towards down
ground
Object breaking 24 m/s left 11 m/s left 0.25
through stuff e.g. ball seconds
thrown through a thin
sheet of paper
Object rebounding off 24 m/s left 11 m/s right 0.25
surface seconds