Caden Lewis

Mrs. Beck

Physics

9.16.18

Acceleration

Acceleration is defined in physics as a change in the velocity of a moving object.

However, in vernacular english this concept is known to most simply as a state of increasing

speed, and is most commonly understood in the realm of cars and other motor vehicles. Yet in

scientific terms, acceleration is much more complicated. “Any change in the velocity of an

object results in an acceleration,” whether an object is increasing in speed, decreasing in

speed, or changing direction. Acceleration is dependent on velocity and velocity is a vector

quantity — one with both magnitude and direction. This means that everything in motion

accelerates; anytime an object’s speed increases, decreases or changes direction, that’s

acceleration.

For example, when a car starts from a standstill and travels in a straight line at an

increasing speed, it is accelerating in the direction of travel; if the car turns, acceleration

occurs toward the new direction. While the car is moving in a straight line, it is said to have

“linear acceleration”. When changing direction, it is called "non-linear acceleration". If the

speed of the car decreases, this is an acceleration in the opposite direction, sometimes called

deceleration.

Acceleration is calculated by division of velocity by time: dividing meters per

second by seconds. Sometimes an accelerating object will change its velocity by the same
amount each second. This is referred to as constant acceleration since the velocity is changing

by a constant. A frequently cited example of uniform acceleration is that of an object in free

fall in a uniform gravitational field. An object moving in a circular motion—such as a satellite

orbiting the Earth—is accelerating due to the change of direction of motion, although its

speed may be constant. In this case it is said to be undergoing centripetal acceleration.

There are two basic forms of acceleration: average and instantaneous. Average

acceleration is measured over a specific, finite period of time. The velocity at the beginning of

this interval is called the initial velocity, represented by the symbol v0, and the velocity at the

end is called the final velocity, represented by the symbol v. “In contrast, instantaneous

acceleration is measured over a "short" time interval. The word short in this context means

infinitely small or infinitesimal — having no duration or extent whatsoever. It's a

mathematical ideal that can can only be realized as a limit. The limit of a rate as the

denominator approaches zero is called a derivative. Instantaneous acceleration is when the

limit of average acceleration as the time interval approaches zero — or alternatively,

acceleration is the derivative of velocity.” Acceleration is the derivative of velocity with time,

but velocity is itself the derivative of displacement with time. The derivative is a

mathematical operation that can be applied multiple times to a pair of changing quantities.

Doing it once gives you a first derivative. Doing it twice gives you a second derivative. That

makes acceleration the first derivative of velocity with time and the second derivative of

displacement with time.

Works Cited

“Acceleration.” The Physics Classroom,

www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-1/Acceleration. Elert, Glenn.

“Acceleration.” Free Fall – The Physics Hypertextbook, physics.info/acceleration/.