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Lesson 2: What is Acceleration?

A car speeds up and most people know that it is accelerating. But, if a car is slowing down or changing direction, is it undergoing acceleration? Can you find out what acceleration is all about? Get ready to speed into this investigation.

Here are some definitions to help you in your investigation.

Acceleration - speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction

Speed - how fast something is moving

Constant speed - not speeding up or slowing down

Doing the science

  1. Select the Sim tab to open the Acceleration simulation
  2. Select the black car on the left side of the screen by clicking on the car.
  3. Select a speed of 30 m/s.
  4. Allow a couple of seconds for the car to reach a constant speed. The acceleration dialog box appears when the car reaches a constant speed.
  5. Choose an acceleration value of “0 m/s2.” Allow the simulation to run.
  6. Read the speed gauge and record in Table 1 the final speed of the car.
  7. Select the “Restart” option.
  8. Select the same car as before.
  9. Select a speed of 30 m/s.
  10. Choose an acceleration value of “2 m/s2.” Allow the simulation to run.
  11. The vehicle traveled for 10 seconds during each of the two trials. If the vehicle increased its speed by 2 m/s each second, calculate and record in Table 1 the vehicle’s final speed after the 10-second acceleration for each of the two trials.
  12. Select the “Restart” option.
  13. Select the same car as before.
  14. Select a speed of 30 m/s.
  15. Choose an acceleration value of “-2 m/s2.” Allow the simulation to run.
  16. Read the speed gauge and record in Table 1 the final speed of the car.

Table 1.

Initial Speed (m/s)

Acceleration

(m/s2)

Actual Final Speed (m/s)

30

0

30

2

30

-2

Do You Understand?

  1. Explain in your own words how the car’s motion changed during the investigation.


  2. Based on your experiences with cars and the new definition of acceleration, can you name three parts found in all car’s that can be classified as ways to accelerate a car?


  3. If the car’s acceleration was 4 m/s2, if the car was moving at 10 m/s, how fast would the car be moving after accelerating for one second?