3 Motion Along a Straight Line
3.3 Average and Instantaneous Acceleration
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Calculate the average acceleration between two points in time.
- Calculate the instantaneous acceleration given the functional form of velocity.
- Explain the vector nature of instantaneous acceleration and velocity.
- Explain the difference between average acceleration and instantaneous acceleration.
- Find instantaneous acceleration at a specified time on a graph of velocity versus time.
The importance of understanding acceleration spans our day-to-day experience, as well as the vast reaches of outer space and the tiny world of subatomic physics. In everyday conversation, to accelerate means to speed up; applying the brake pedal causes a vehicle to slow down. We are familiar with the acceleration of our car, for example. The greater the acceleration, the greater the change in velocity over a given time. Acceleration is widely seen in experimental physics. In linear particle accelerator experiments, for example, subatomic particles are accelerated to very high velocities in collision experiments, which tell us information about the structure of the subatomic world as well as the origin of the universe. In space, cosmic rays are subatomic particles that have been accelerated to very high energies in supernovas (exploding massive stars) and active galactic nuclei. It is important to understand the processes that accelerate cosmic rays because these rays contain highly penetrating radiation that can damage electronics flown on spacecraft, for example.
Average Acceleration
The formal definition of acceleration is consistent with these notions just described, but is more inclusive.
Average Acceleration
Average acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes:
where [latex]\overset{\text{−}}{a}[/latex] is average acceleration, v is velocity, and t is time. (The bar over the a means average acceleration.)
Because acceleration is velocity in meters divided by time in seconds, the SI units for acceleration are often abbreviated m/s2—that is, meters per second squared or meters per second per second. This literally means by how many meters per second the velocity changes every second. Recall that velocity is a vector—it has both magnitude and direction—which means that a change in velocity can be a change in magnitude (or speed), but it can also be a change in direction. For example, if a runner traveling at 10 km/h due east slows to a stop, reverses direction, continues her run at 10 km/h due west, her velocity has changed as a result of the change in direction, although the magnitude of the velocity is the same in both directions. Thus, acceleration occurs when velocity changes in magnitude (an increase or decrease in speed) or in direction, or both.
Acceleration as a Vector
Acceleration is a vector in the same direction as the change in velocity, [latex]\Delta v[/latex]. Since velocity is a vector, it can ch