PHYSICAL QUANTITY

Acceleration: formulas and units of measurement

Acceleration: symbol a, unit m/s². Formulas and explanations for Mechanics.

a

\frac{\text{m}}{\text{s}^2}

meters per second squared

KEY CONNECTIONS

Formulas

a = \frac{∣ v - v _{0} ∣}{t}

a = |v − v₀| / t

a_{ts} = \frac{v ^{2}}{R} = ω^{2} R

ac = v² / R = ω²R

v = v_{0} \pm a t

v = v₀ ± at

S = v_{0} t \pm \frac{a t ^{2}}{2}

S = v₀t ± at²/2

S = \frac{v ^{2} - v _{0} ^{2}}{\pm 2 a}

S = (v² − v₀²) / (±2a)

NOTATION

$a$: Acceleration is the rate of change in the speed of a body.
$v$: Speed is the speed and direction of change in body position.
$v_0$: Initial speed - the speed of the body at the selected initial moment.
$t$: Time is a quantity characterizing the duration and sequence of events.
$a_{\text{ts}}$: Centripetal acceleration is acceleration directed towards the center of curvature of the trajectory.
$R$: Radius is the distance from the center of the circle to its point.
$\omega$: Angular velocity is the speed of rotation of a body around an axis.
$S$: Distance - the length of the space between selected points.

THEORY

PRACTICE