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Skillsheet 2 Acceleration Problems
This skill sheet will allow you to practice solving acceleration problems. Remember that acceleration is the rate of change in speed of an object. In other words, at what rate does an object speed up or slow down? A positive value for acceleration refers to the rate of speeding up, and a negative value for acceleration refers to the rate of slowing down. The rate of slowing down is called deceleration. To determine the rate of acceleration you use the formula:
Acceleration = Final Speed – Beginning Speed or A = Vf – Vi
Change in Time T
A. Solving Acceleration Problems – solve the following equations using the acceleration formula. Remember the units for acceleration are “distance per time per time”. All answers should be carried out to the hundredths place.
1. A biker begins to move from a speed of 0.0 m/s to a final speed of 25.0 m/s in 10 seconds. What is the acceleration of the biker?
2. A skater increases her velocity from 2.0 m/s to 10.0 m/s in 3.0 seconds. What is the rate of acceleration for the skater?
3. While traveling along the highway, a drive slows from 24.0 m/s to 15.0 m/s in 12.0 seconds. What is the driver’s acceleration? (Remember that a negative value indicates slowing down or “deceleration”.)
4. A parachute on a drag racing-car opens and changes the speed of the car from 85.0 m/s to 45.0 m/s in a period of 4.5 seconds. What is the acceleration of the car?
5. The fasted land mammal, the cheetah, can accelerate from 0.0 mi/hr to 70.0 mi/hr in 3.0 seconds. What is the acceleration of the cheetah?
6. The Lamborghini Diablo sports car can accelerate from 0.0 km/hr to 99.2 km/hr in 4.0 seconds. What is the acceleration of the car?
7. Which has greater acceleration, the cheetah or the Lamborghini Diablo? In other words, will the Lamborghini turn the cheetah into road kill or will the cheetah have the driver of the Diablo for dinner?
Use the conversion factor of 1 mile = 1.609 km
B. Solving for other variables – Now let’s rearrange the acceleration formula so that you can solve for other variables such as final speed, beginning speed, and the change in time
To Find:
Final speed, use the formula: Beginning speed, use the formula: Change in time, use the formula
Vf = Vi + (A x T) Vi = Vf - (A x T) T = (Vf - Vi)
A
8. A cart rolling down a hill for 5.0 seconds has an acceleration of 4.0 m/s2. If the cart has a beginning speed of 2.0 m/s, what is the final speed of the cart?
9. If a car can go from 0.0 mi/hr to 60.0 mi/hr in 8.0 seconds, what would be its begging speed if after 5.0 seconds its final speed was 87.50 mi/hr?
10. Today, the Space Shuttle Atlantis must accelerate from 0.0 km/hr to 29,000.0 km/hr to reach a minimum orbit altitude of 185 kilometers. If the shuttle’s acceleration rate is 3411.765 km/hr/min, how long will it take the shuttle to reach orbit? And what is its maximum speed in miles per hour?