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Home Minds On 1D Kinematics Mission KC4 Acceleration Help Help 5

Mission KC4 Acceleration

The Question

Which of the following are controls on an automobile that allow the driver to cause an acceleration of the car? List all that apply ... .

Define Help

Definition of Acceleration:
The acceleration of an object is the rate at which the object changes its velocity.

Think About It

Accelerating objects are changing their velocity. Velocity is often thought of as an object's speed with a direction. Thus, objects that are accelerating are either speeding up, slowing down or changing directions. Changing the velocity in any one of these three ways would be an example of an accelerated motion. Determining the answer to this question involves determining which controls on an automobile allow you to do accelerate in these three ways.

Don't be Fooled

Many students are familiar with the word deceleration. Such students often think that deceleration is the opposite of acceleration and thus is not an example of acceleration. But don't be fooled! The word deceleration is not a physics term in the sense that it has a strict definition that is tied to other clearly defined concepts. To decelerate is to slow down. And slowing down is an example of acceleration. So inspect your mind to see if you have mis-defined accelerating objects as those which are only speeding up. And if you have, enlarge (and change) its definition to the one mentioned in the Define Help section.

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