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Velocity and Acceleration

A series of free High School Physics Video Lessons from Brightstorm online Physics series.

Average Velocity
The average velocity of an object over a given period of time is found by dividing the distance it has traveled by the time elapsed. Because velocity refers to the rate at which an object changes position, it is a vector quantity and direction matters. This differentiates average velocity from average speed. The formula for average velocity is (the change in x) / (the change in t) or (x₂-x₁) / (t₂-t₁).

Instantaneous Velocity
Instantaneous velocity is the velocity of an object in motion at a specific point in time. This is determined similarly to average velocity, but we narrow the period of time so that it approaches zero. If an object has a standard velocity over a period of time, its average and instantaneous velocities may be the same. The formula for instantaneous velocity is the limit as t approaches zero of the change in d over the change in t.

Acceleration
The acceleration of an object is the change in its velocity over a period of time, or the rate at which its velocity increases. The units for acceleration are distance/time² (for example m/s²).

Free Fall
An object is in free fall when gravity is the only force to move it through space. In reality, free fall is affected by variables such as wind iance, but when physicists discuss free fall, they generally assume that it is taking place in a vacuum. The acceleration of an object in free fall is 9.8 m/s².

Graphs of Motion
The two most commonly used graphs of motion are velocity (distance v. time) and acceleration (velocity v. time). In each case, time is shown on the x-axis. The graph of velocity is a curve while the graph of acceleration is linear. The slope of a line tangent to the graph of distance v. time is its instantaneous velocity. The slope of a line tangent to velocity v. time is its acceleration.

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