Imagine you are riding a bike. You are pedaling and you decide you are going a little too slowly. Your velocity is a little too low. You speed up and for a little while each pedal stroke you take is a little faster than the last one. This is acceleration. You are going faster and faster all the time. Pretty soon you get to a speed which feels comfortable to you, and as you keep pedaling, each pedal stroke is at the same rate as the one before. You are going faster than before (your velocity is higher than before), but you are going at a steady new speed. You are not accelerating anymore (as long as you continue in the same direction!). Just as there is a specific formula used to measure velocity, there is a specific way acceleration is defined. Acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the time during which the change occurs. It is defined as the amount of velocity change divided by the amount of time that passes while the change is occurring. This is what it looks like:
Acceleration
Acceleration = Change in Velocity ÷ Time
When scientists are measuring acceleration, there is a specific unit of measurement used to determine how much an object is accelerating. Acceleration is usually measured in units equivalent to meters per second per second. This is simply how the velocity (meters per second) changes each second (per second). This is often written as meters per second squared: m/s2
Acceleraton
What is the definition of acceleration?
