Ask a Teacher

Rate of change of velocity(Acceleration)

Acceleration is a measure of the change in the velocity of an object per unit time.That is,

                                     Acceleration = change in velocity / time taken

If the velocity of an object changes from an initial value u to the final value v in time t, the acceleration a is,

                                    a = (v-u)/t

This kind of motion is known as accelerated motion. The acceleration is taken to be positive if it is in the direction of velocity and negative when it is opposite to the direction of velocity. The SI unit of acceleration is m s².