RECTILINEAR ACCELERATION

CONTENT

1. The Concept of Acceleration
2. Uniform and Non-uniform Acceleration
3. Deceleration
4. Worked Examples on Acceleration and Deceleration
5. Velocity-Time (V – T) Graph
6. Worked Examples on V-T Graph

The Concept of Acceleration

When an object increases or changes its velocity within a set time, the object is said to undergo acceleration (or to accelerate). We therefore define acceleration as the rate of change of velocity with time.

\(Acceleration = {\text{Change in Velocity} \over \text{Time taken}} \\ a = \frac{v – u}{t}\)

Where a: acceleration

v: final velocity

u: initial velocity

Acceleration is a vector quantity and its SI unit is \(m/s^2\)

However, be reminded that:

(i) When a body starts from rest, its initial velocity, ‘u’ is zero.

(ii) When a body comes to rest, its final velocity, ‘v’ is zero.

Uniform and Non-uniform Acceleration

Acceleration is said to be uniform if the velocity increases by equal amounts in equal intervals of time.