Concept Items
3.1 Acceleration
How can you use the definition of acceleration to explain the units in which acceleration is measured?
- Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. Therefore, its unit is m/s2.
- Acceleration is the rate of change of displacement. Therefore, its unit is m/s.
- Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. Therefore, its unit is m2/s.
- Acceleration is the rate of change of displacement. Therefore, its unit is m2/s.
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\text{m}^2\text{/s}
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\text{cm}^2\text{/s}
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\text{m/s}^2
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\text{cm/s}^2
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The car is accelerating because the magnitude as well as the direction of velocity is changing.
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The car is accelerating because the magnitude of velocity is changing.
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The car is accelerating because the direction of velocity is changing.
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The car is accelerating because neither the magnitude nor the direction of velocity is changing.
3.2 Representing Acceleration with Equations and Graphs
A student calculated the final velocity of a train that decelerated from 30.5 m/s and got an answer of −43.34 m/s. Which of the following might indicate that he made a mistake in his calculation?
- The sign of the final velocity is wrong.
- The magnitude of the answer is too small.
- There are too few significant digits in the answer.
- The units in the initial velocity are incorrect.
Create your own kinematics problem. Then, create a flow chart showing the steps someone would need to take to solve the problem.
- Acceleration
- Distance
- Displacement
- Force
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v = v_0 + at
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v = v_0 - at
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v^2 = {v_0}^2 + at
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v^2 = {v_0}^2 - at