1.
3 ACCELERATION
Recall that in a P-T graph: Straight Line = constant slope= constant / uniform velocity
What if the velocity changes? – THIS IS REALITY
Is it still uniform (constant) velocity? ________ If not what is it called? ______________________
An object can accelerate (increase velocity), or decelerate (decrease velocity). Since the velocity
in both cases is changing (not constant), then the slope will also change. So the PT graphs will
have _________________ lines.
In a P-T graph: Curved Line = non-constant slope = changing velocity = acceleration
𝑡 (𝑠) 𝑡 (𝑠)
𝑑⃗ 𝑚 [𝐸])
𝑑⃗ 𝑚 [𝐸])
𝑑⃗ 𝑚 [𝐸])
𝑑⃗ 𝑚 [𝐸])
(
(
(
(
𝑡 (𝑠) 𝑡 (𝑠)
- Graph is above the x-axis - Graph is below the x-axis - Graph is above the x-axis - Graph is below the x-axis
[E direction] [W direction] [E direction] [W direction]
- Slope (Velocity) is positive - Slope (Velocity) is negative - Slope (Velocity) is positive - Slope (Velocity) is negative
and increasing and increasing decreasing and decreasing
- Speeding up in the E - Speeding up in the W - Slowing down in the E - Slowing down in the W
direction direction direction direction
A. AVERAGE VELOCITY AND INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY FROM A POSITION-TIME GRAPH
Calculate the average velocity for each graph.
a)
b)
Instantaneous Velocity is the velocity of an object at a specific instant in time. On a Position-
Time graph, this can be found by calculating the slope of the tangent.
Tangent: a line (drawn with a ruler) that is parallel to a graph at one point.
Calculate the instantaneous velocity at 2s and at 5s for each of the above graphs. What do you
notice? What do you think the corresponding V-T graphs will look like?
B. CALCULATING ACCELERATION
Acceleration describes how quickly an object’s velocity changes over time (the rate of change of velocity).
Velocity-Time Graphs show how the velocity is changing with time. It has velocity on the vertical axis.
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
v v2 − v1
aav = =
t t2 − t1
rise v 2 − v1
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 − 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ = = = aav
run t 2 − t1
Example 1: A catapult accelerates a rock from rest to a velocity of 15.0 m/s [S]over a time interval
of 12.5 s. What is the rock’s average acceleration?
Example 2: A speedboat experiences an average acceleration of 2.4 m/s2 [W]. If the boat
accelerates for 6.2 s and has a final velocity of 17 m/s [W], what was the initial velocity of the
speed boat?
C. DETERMINING ACCELERATION FROM A VELOCITY-TIME GRAPH
Example 3: What is the acceleration of the diving kingfisher?
Velocity vs. Time of a Car Crash
14
12
10
Velocity (m/s [NE])
2
What type of acceleration is this?
_____________________
0
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12
time (s)
D. DETERMING DISPLACEMENT FROM A VELOCITY-TIME GRAPH
To determine displacement from a V-T Graph → Calculate the ____________________________
Velocity vs. Time of a Car Crash
14
Example #2: Find the displacement of the car from
t=0.06 s to t=0.11 s.
12
10
Velocity (m/s [NE])
0
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12
time (s)
Try this link: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/kinema/acceln.cfm
HOMEWORK: Read Pages 21-30 and Complete Questions #2, 3, 4a, 6-11 on Page 30
