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Average Acceleration and Instantaneous Acceleration

1) Average acceleration is calculated by taking the change in velocity over the change in time. It represents the average rate of change of velocity over an interval of time. 2) Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the average acceleration as the time interval approaches zero. It represents the acceleration at a specific point in time. 3) The acceleration can be calculated from the functional form of velocity by taking the derivative of the velocity equation with respect to time. The slope of the velocity-time graph gives the instantaneous acceleration.

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1K views14 pages

Average Acceleration and Instantaneous Acceleration

1) Average acceleration is calculated by taking the change in velocity over the change in time. It represents the average rate of change of velocity over an interval of time. 2) Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the average acceleration as the time interval approaches zero. It represents the acceleration at a specific point in time. 3) The acceleration can be calculated from the functional form of velocity by taking the derivative of the velocity equation with respect to time. The slope of the velocity-time graph gives the instantaneous acceleration.

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Cherry Pie Renon
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Average acceleration and

Instantaneous acceleration
Average Acceleration
• Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity

v x v xf  v xi
ax,avg  
t tf  t i
• Where ᾱ is average acceleration, v is velocity, and t is time. (The bar over the a means average
acceleration).

• Dimensions are L/T2


• SI units are m/s²
• In one dimension, positive and negative can be used to indicate direction
• Because acceleration is velocity in meters divided by time in
seconds, the SI units for acceleration are often abbreviated
m/s2 that is, meters per second per second. This literally
means by how many meters per second the velocity changes
every second. Recall that velocity is a vector it has both
magnitude and direction which means that a change in
velocity can be a change in magnitude (or speed), but it can
also be a change in direction. For example, if a runner
traveling at 10 km/h due east slows to a stop, reverses
direction, continues her run at 10 km/h due west, her velocity
has changed as a result acceleration occurs when velocity
changes in magnitude (an increase or decrease in speed) or in
direction, or both.
• Note: acceleration is a vector in the same
direction as the change in velocity, Δv. Since
velocity is a vector, it can change in
magnitude or in direction or both.
Acceleration is, therefore, a change in speed
or direction, or both.
•Example 1.
• Calculating average acceleration: A
Racehorse Leaves the Gate
A racehorse coming out of the gate
accelerates from rest to a velocity of 15.0
m/s due west in 1.80 s. What is its average
acceleration?
• we
  draw a sketch and assign a coordinate system to the problem. This is a
simple problem, but it always helps to visualize it. Notice that we assign east
as positive and west as negative. Thus, in this case, we have negative velocity.
• v₀=0 N(+y)
v₁ = 15.0 m/s
W(-x) E(+x)

a= ?
S(-y)

We can solve this problem by identifying ∆v and ∆t from the given information
and then calculating the average acceleration directly from the equation ᾱ= =
Solution:
 
First, identify the knowns: v0 = 0,vf = −15.0m/s (the negative
sign indicates direction toward the west), ∆t = 1.80 s. Second,
find the change in velocity. Since the horse is going from zero
to -15.0 m/s, its change in velocity equals its final velocity:

∆v = Vϝ − v₀= Vϝ = −15.0m/s.
(2) Last, substitute the known values (∆v and ∆t) and solve for
the unknown ᾱ=

ᾱ= = -8.33 m/s²
Instantaneous Acceleration
• The instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the average acceleration
as t approaches 0
v x dv x d 2 x
ax  lim   2
t 0 t dt dt
• The term acceleration will mean instantaneous acceleration
• If average acceleration is wanted, the word average will be included
If we know the functional form of velocity, v(t), we can calculate
instantaneous acceleration a(t) at any time point in the motion
using:
Example 2 Calculating Instantaneous Acceleration
A particle is in motion and is accelerating. The functional form of
the velocity is v(t) = 20t−5 t2 m/s.
a. Find the functional form of the acceleration.
b. Find the instantaneous velocity at t = 1, 2, 3, and 5 s.
c. Find the instantaneous acceleration at t = 1, 2, 3, and 5 s.
d. Interpret the results of (c) in terms of the directions of the
acceleration and velocity vectors.
We find the functional form of acceleration by
taking the derivative of the velocity function. Then,
we calculate the values of instantaneous velocity
and acceleration from the given functions for each.
For part (d), we need to compare the directions of
velocity and acceleration at each time.
 
Solution
a. a(t) == 20−10t m/s²
b. v(1s) = 15m/s, v(2s) = 20m/s, v(3s) = 15m/s, v(5s) =−25m/s
c. a(1s) = 10m/s², a(2s) = 0m/s², a(3s) =−10m/s, a(5s)
=−30m/s²
d. At t = 1 s, velocity v(1s) = 15m/s is positive and acceleration is
positive, so both velocity and acceleration are in the same
direction. The particle is moving faster.
At t = 2 s, velocity has increased to v(2s) = 20m/s, where it is
maximum, which corresponds to the time when the acceleration is
zero. We see that the maximum velocity occurs when the slope of the
velocity function is zero, which is just the zero of the acceleration
function.
At t = 3 s, velocity is v(3s) = 15m/s and acceleration is negative. The
particle has reduced its velocity and the acceleration vector is negative.
The particle is slowing down.
At t = 5 s, velocity is v(5s) =−25m/s and acceleration is increasingly
negative. Between the times t = 3 s and t = 5 s the particle has
decreased its velocity to zero and then become negative, thus
reversing its direction. The particle is now speeding up again, but in the
opposite direction.
Instantaneous Acceleration -- graph
• The slope of the velocity-
time graph is the
acceleration
• The green line represents
the instantaneous
acceleration
• The blue line is the
average acceleration
Graphical Comparison
• Given the displacement-time graph (a)
• The velocity-time graph is found by
measuring the slope of the position-time
graph at every instant
• The acceleration-time graph is found by
measuring the slope of the velocity-time
graph at every instant

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