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Mission KC8 Pos'n-Time and Vel-Time Data

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 The Question

Which of the following data sets represent the motion of an object with an acceleration of +4.0 m/s/s? List all that apply ... .
 
(Note: The actual acceleration value is picked at random and may differ from the one listed here.)

 Formula Fix

The average acceleration value (a) of an object can be computed from knowledge of the velocity change (Δv) and time change (Δt).
 
a = Δv / Δt

 Think About It

An object with an acceleration of +4.0 m/s/s is changing its velocity by +4.0 m/s every second. For each 1-second interval in time, the velocity increases by 4.0 m/s. If the overall velocity change (found from the first and the last row of the table) is divided by the overall time change, then the ratio would be 4.0 m/s/s.

 A Very Fine Detail

Careful attention will have to be given to the time values in each table. They likely increment by either 0.5 seconds or 1.0 second. An acceleration of +4.0 m/s/s corresponds to an increase in velocity by 2.0 m/s for every 0.5 seconds of time increase. That makes a Δv/Δt ratio of 4.0 m/s/s.

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