Acceleration The Cheetah: A cat that is built for speed.

Its strength and agility allow it to sustain a top speed of over 100 km/h. Such speeds can only be maintained for about ten seconds. Objectives Define and apply concepts of average and instantaneous velocity and acceleration. Solve problems involving initial and final velocity, acceleration, displacement, and time. Demonstrate your understanding of directions and signs for velocity, displacement, and acceleration. Solve problems involving a free-falling body in a gravitational field. Assumptions Uniform motion in one plane Motion is along a straight line (horizontal, vertical or slanted). Changes in motion result from a CONSTANT force producing uniform acceleration. The cause of motion will be discussed later. Here we only treat the changes. The moving object is treated as though it were a point particle. Distance is the length of the actual path taken by an object. Consider travel from point A to point B in diagram below: Distance s is a scalar quantity (no direction): Contains magnitude only and consists of a number and a unit. (20 m, 40 mi/h, 10 gal) Displacement is the straight-line separation of two points in a specified direction. A vector quantity: Contains magnitude AND direction, a number, unit & angle. (12 m, 300; 8 km/h, N) For motion along x or y axis, the displacement is determined by the x or y coordinate of its final position. Example: Consider a car that travels 8 m, E then 12 m, W. Net displacement D is from the origin to the final position: D = 4 m, W What is the distance traveled, 20 m !! Speed is the distance traveled per unit of time (a scalar quantity).

Not direction dependent! Velocity is the displacement per unit of time. (A vector quantity.) Direction required! Example 1. A runner runs 200 m, east, then changes direction and runs 300 m, west. If the entire trip takes 60 s, what is the average speed and what is the average velocity? Recall that average speed is a function only of total distance and total time: Example 1 (Cont.) Now we find the average velocity, which is the net displacement divided by time. In this case, the direction matters. Direction of final displacement is to the left as shown. The average speed depends ONLY on the distance traveled and the time required. The instantaneous velocity is the magn-itude and direction of the speed at a par-ticular instant. (v at point C) Velocity is positive (+) or negative (-) based on direction of motion. First choose + direction; then v is positive if motion is with that direction, and negative if it is against that direction. An acceleration is the change in velocity per unit of time. (A vector quantity.) A change in velocity requires the application of a push or pull (force). A formal treatment of force and acceleration will be given later. For now, you should know that: The direction of accel- eration is same as direction of force. The acceleration is proportional to the magnitude of the force.

Pulling the wagon with twice the force produces twice the acceleration and acceleration is in direction of force. The wind changes the speed of a boat from 2 m/s to 8 m/s in 3 s. Each second the speed changes by 2 m/s. Wind force is constant, thus acceleration is constant. Acceleration is positive (+) or negative (-) based on the direction of force. Choose + direction first. Then acceleration a will have the same sign as that of the force F regardless of the direction of velocity.
aavg = v v v 1 = 2 t t t 1 2
ainst = v t 0) ( t

Example 3 (No change in direction): A constant force changes the speed of a car from 8 m/s to 20 m/s in 4 s. What is average acceleration? Step 1. Draw a rough sketch. Step 2. Choose a positive direction (right). Step 3. Label given info with + and - signs. Step 4. Indicate direction of force F. Example 3 (Continued): What is average acceleration of car? Step 5. Recall definition of average acceleration

aavg =

v v v 1 = 2 t t t 1 2

a = +3 m/s, rightward

Example 4: A wagon moving east at 20 m/s encounters a very strong head-wind, causing it to change directions. After 5 s, it is traveling west at 5 m/s. What is the average acceleration? (Be careful of signs.) Step 1. Draw a rough sketch. Step 2. Choose the eastward direction as positive. Step 3. Label given info with + and - signs. Example 4 (Cont.): Wagon moving east at 20 m/s encounters a head-wind, causing it to change directions. Five seconds later, it is traveling west at 5 m/s. What is the average acceleration? Choose the eastward direction as positive. Initial velocity, vo = +20 m/s, east (+) Final velocity, vf = -5 m/s, west (-) The change in velocity, Dv = vf - v0 Dv = (-5 m/s) - (+20 m/s) = -25 m/s