Notes: Acceleration

and Force
Ch. 8.2 Yellow
 Acceleration
 Acceleration = change in
velocity.
VelocitySPEED
changes DIRECTION
when you
change either _________ or
_________?
Do you think you can you have
negative acceleration?
To measure acceleration of an
object moving in a straight line,
you need:
Initial velocity (starting)  Vi
 Final velocity (finishing)  Vf
 Amount of time it took  t
 Equation for Acceleration
 Acceleration = Final Velocity – Initial
Velocity
Time
a = Vf –
Vi
t

OR

a= ΔV Note: Δ
t means
“change in”
 Applying Motion to
Graphs
 How would you find the velocity of an
object using this graph?
 The velocity of an object can be
found by finding the slope on a
Distance / Time graph.
Distance (m)

Time (s)
 Applying Motion to
Graphs
 What would you do differently to
determine acceleration?
 The acceleration of an object can be
found by finding the slope on a
Velocity / Time graph.
Velocity (m/s)

Time (s)
 Acceleration Problems
 A goat was grazing at 5 mph when he
spied a tasty piece of garbage off in the
distance. He began running and after
only 5 seconds was traveling at 12 mph.
What was the goat’s acceleration?

 If a train is accelerates at the rate of

-20 mph/sec, how long will it take to
slow down from 90 mph to 5 mph?