Acceleration

Acceleration

Acceleration is the rate of velocity change.Acceleration is a vector quantity. It is a measure of how fast the velocity change.
Acceleration is a vector quantity.
The unit of acceleration is ms^-2.

Equation
Additional Notes

An object moves with a constant velocity if the magnitude and direction of the motion is always constant.
An object experiences changes in velocity if

• the magnitude of velocity changes
• the direction of the motion changes.

An object that experiences changes in velocity is said to have acceleration.
An object traveling with a constant acceleration, a, if the velocity changes at a constant rate.

Equation of Uniform Acceleration

Most of the motion problems can be solved by the following equations. Therefore, make sure that you memorise all of them.
How we know when to use the equation?
There are 3 types of motion:

• motion with uniform velocity
• motion with uniform acceleration
• motion with changing acceleration

The 4 equations are used when the motion is uniform acceleration.

Motion with changing acceleration is not in SPM Physics syllabus. It will be discussed in Form 5 add maths.

External Link
Physics Classroom - Acceleration
EdInformatics.com - What is acceleration?
Spark Notes - Speed, Velocity, Acceleration
Physics Homework Help - Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Interactive Mathematics - Kinematics Exercise

Interactive Animation