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Acceleration - help5

Accelerating objects are objects that are changing their velocity. They are speeding up, slowing down, or changing directions.

There are three very similar versions of this question. Each version provides a verbal description of a motion and a velocity-time table and asks the learner to determine if the object is accelerating or not. This is one of the three versions:

Version 1:
The velocity-time table represents the motion of a bicycle as it moves from left to right. Is the bicycle accelerating?

In Physics we distinguish between two distinctly different motions - constant velocity motions and accelerated motions. Accelerated motions are characterized by a speeding up, slowing down, or direction change. (In this Concept Builder, there is no direction change taking place.) So to determine if an object is accelerating, inspect the diagram to see if there is a speeding up or a slowing down motion being described. If there is, then the object is accelerating.

Velocity-time tables such as the one shown represent the speed and direction of the object at various instances in time. In the situations shown, the speed value is increasing. This is an indicator of a speeding up motion.

Try the link below to our Tutorial for more information:

Acceleration