How does velocity relate to acceleration

Workflow Read Confirmation. Created by Chatha, Awais , last modified on Jun 12, ECUR : Awais and Hassan : June 12, Distance and displacement might seem similar at first but in fact are two very different things. Distance: Distance is how far or how much ground has been covered by an object. Distance is a scalar quantity. Distance and displacement Displacement: Displacement is the change in position of an object. Displacement is a vector quantity. Velocity is defined by as the rate of change of an object's displacement over its change in time with direction, since velocity is a vector- that's why velocity can be negative.

Basically, it just means "how much has this object moved and in what direction in a given time interval. Acceleration is a little more complicated. It is defined as the rate of change of the object's velocity over its change in time.

So "how much has the object's velocity changed in a given time interval. Or, if the acceleration is negative, it's called deceleration and describes something slowing down.

For something to speed up or slow down, it has to have a certain change in velocity. Let's compare the units of the two. This just means that it's not always moving the same distance in a given time. If the acceleration is positive, it's actually moving more distance as time passes by. Another relationship between the two is that when velocity is constant, acceleration is zero.

It looks like this:. This solution will tell you the proper acceleration for an object over a set period of time. Understanding the relationship between velocity and acceleration can help you predict where an object will go given certain variables.

All rights reserved. The Main Difference Between Velocity and Acceleration Velocity and acceleration both use speed as a starting point in their measurements. Here are the basic definitions of velocity and acceleration: velocity - the rate of displacement of a moving object over time acceleration - the rate of velocity change over time As you can see, velocity requires speed for its measurement, and acceleration requires velocity for its measurement.