2.4 Acceleration

Acceleration is the change of speed over time. For example, it determines how long it takes to accelerate from 0mph to 60mph. Let's say a sports car accelerates from 0mph to 60mph in 6 seconds. This is how we compute the acceleration.

The physics symbol for acceleration is ``a''.

One mile is 1.6km, so 60mph is $\frac{1.6\times60\times1000}{3600}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^{-1}=26.67\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$. The change of speed is, of course, $26.67\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, over 6 seconds. The acceleration is, then, $\frac{26.67}{6}=4.445\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^{-2}$.