Menu
Uniformly accelerated motion
Key points
- Uniformly accelerated motion refers to motion in which the velocity of the object is changing.
- Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
- It is a vector quantity.
In uniformly accelerated motion the velocity is non-constant. The object speeds up and/or slows down.
- The graph of velocity vs. time is a non-horizontal straight line.
- The slope of this graph is the object’s acceleration.
- Acceleration occurs when a force is acted upon an object.
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. It is measured in m/s^2.
- When acceleration is 0, then there is no change in velocity.
- Acceleration is a vector quantity, so it requires both a magnitude and direction.
- Both a positive and negative direction need to be defined for the object’s motion.
- Note: there is no such thing as “deceleration”. When something slows down, it is not “decelerating”, it is simply accelerating in a negative direction.
Suppose we choose a time interval from t = 0 to some arbitrary time t later.
Let the velocity at time t = 0 (initial velocity) be u and the velocity at time t be v (final velocity). Then we get the following expression for acceleration:
Formula Booklet
- Rewriting the expression above leaves us with the formula booklet expression.
- The final velocity is equal to initial velocity plus the acceleration the object experienced during a given time interval
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is the unit of acceleration m/s^2?
- Acceleration is calculated with the composite of two kinematic equations.
- Acceleration is time time it takes to change your velocity. Velocity is the time it takes to change your position.
- Combining these steps, acceleration is measured in distance units over time x time.
- time X time is time squared, so we use s^2.
- Combining these steps, acceleration is measured in distance units over time x time.
- Acceleration is time time it takes to change your velocity. Velocity is the time it takes to change your position.
- Acceleration is calculated with the composite of two kinematic equations.
- Can acceleration be negative?
- Yes! Depending on the directions assigned to the objects motion.
- Negative acceleration is what we would commonly refer to as “deceleration”.
- When the velocity of the object increases in the negative direction (away from positive), acceleration is negative.
Subscribe to the Inertia Newsletter
IB News, Covid-19 Updates, Deadlines, Tips and Tricks, and Hundreds of Free Resources are Awaiting You!
