Acceleration and Deceleration

Section 7.4

Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate of change of the rate of change. In other words, acceleration = f(x) = second derivative of the function *If f(x) is negative, the object is decelerating!

Example 1
Find the instantaneous vertical acceleration at time t of a projectile whose height at time t is given by h(t) = 4 + 55t - 16 t2 . h(t) = 55 32t feet per second h(t) = -32 feet per second per second

Example 2
A ball is dropped from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, 56 m above the ground. The height (in meters) of the ball above the ground at time t seconds is given by h(t) = 4.9t2 + 56. a. What is the instantaneous velocity of the ball at time t = 3 sec.?
h(t) = -9.8t h(3) = -9.8(3) h(3) = -29.4 m/second

b. What is the acceleration of the ball at time t = 3 seconds?

h(t) = -9.8 h(3) = -9.8 h(3) = -9.8 m/sec / sec
11.43= t2 T = 3.38 sec

c. At what time t does the ball hit the ground?

0= -4.9t2 + 56 -56= -4.9t2 -56= -4.9t2

d. What is the instantaneous velocity of the ball at the moment it hits the ground? h(3.38) = -9.8(3.38) h(3.38) = -33.13 m/sec

Homework

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