Object in a free fall without air resistance near the surface of Earth
9.8
Space shuttle maximum during launch
29
Parachutist peak during normal opening of parachute
59
F16 aircraft pulling out of a dive
79
Explosive seat ejection from aircraft
147
Sprint missile
982
Fastest rocket sled peak acceleration
1540
Jumping flea
3200
Baseball struck by a bat
30,000
Closing jaws of a trap-jaw ant
1,000,000
Proton in the large Hadron collider
(credit: Wikipedia: Orders of Magnitude (acceleration))
In this table, we see that typical accelerations vary widely with different objects and have nothing to do with object size or how massive it is. Acceleration can also vary widely with time during the motion of an object. A drag racer has a large acceleration just after its start, but then it tapers off as the vehicle reaches a constant velocity. Its average acceleration can be quite different from its instantaneous acceleration at a particular time during its motion.
[link] compares graphically average acceleration with instantaneous acceleration for two very different motions.
Graphs of instantaneous acceleration versus time for two different one-dimensional motions. (a) Acceleration varies only slightly and is always in the same direction, since it is positive. The average over the interval is nearly the same as the acceleration at any given time. (b) Acceleration varies greatly, perhaps representing a package on a post office conveyor belt that is accelerated forward and backward as it bumps along. It is necessary to consider small time intervals (such as from 0–1.0 s) with constant or nearly constant acceleration in such a situation.
Learn about position, velocity, and acceleration graphs. Move the little man back and forth with a mouse and plot his motion. Set the position, velocity, or acceleration and let the simulation move the man for you. Visit
this link to use the moving man simulation.
Summary
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. Acceleration is a vector; it has both a magnitude and direction. The SI unit for acceleration is meters per second squared.
Acceleration can be caused by a change in the magnitude or the direction of the velocity, or both.
Instantaneous acceleration
a (
t ) is a continuous function of time and gives the acceleration at any specific time during the motion. It is calculated from the derivative of the velocity function. Instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the velocity-versus-time graph.
Negative acceleration (sometimes called deceleration) is acceleration in the negative direction in the chosen coordinate system.
Conceptual questions
Is it possible for speed to be constant while acceleration is not zero?
No, in one dimension constant speed requires zero acceleration.
If a subway train is moving to the left (has a negative velocity) and then comes to a stop, what is the direction of its acceleration? Is the acceleration positive or negative?
Plus and minus signs are used in one-dimensional motion to indicate direction. What is the sign of an acceleration that reduces the magnitude of a negative velocity? Of a positive velocity?
Dr. John Paul Stapp was a U.S. Air Force officer who studied the effects of extreme acceleration on the human body. On December 10, 1954, Stapp rode a rocket sled, accelerating from rest to a top speed of 282 m/s (1015 km/h) in 5.00 s and was brought jarringly back to rest in only 1.40 s. Calculate his (a) acceleration in his direction of motion and (b) acceleration opposite to his direction of motion. Express each in multiples of
g (9.80 m/s
2 ) by taking its ratio to the acceleration of gravity.
A commuter backs her car out of her garage with an acceleration of 1.40 m/s
2 . (a) How long does it take her to reach a speed of 2.00 m/s? (b) If she then brakes to a stop in 0.800 s, what is her acceleration?
Assume an intercontinental ballistic missile goes from rest to a suborbital speed of 6.50 km/s in 60.0 s (the actual speed and time are classified). What is its average acceleration in meters per second and in multiples of
g (9.80 m/s
2 )?
An airplane, starting from rest, moves down the runway at constant acceleration for 18 s and then takes off at a speed of 60 m/s. What is the average acceleration of the plane?
A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics
Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
