Acceleration is defined as which of the following?

Acceleration is defined as which of the following?

• A. The rate of change of position.
• B. The rate of change of velocity.
• C. The distance traveled per unit time.
• D. The increase in the rate of motion.

Answer: (D)

Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes over time. Since velocity includes both speed and direction, acceleration captures speeding up, slowing down, or a change in direction. Mathematically, it’s the derivative of velocity with respect to time (a = dv/dt), with units of meters per second squared. So, when a car goes from 0 to 20 m/s in 5 seconds, its acceleration is 4 m/s^2 in the forward direction. If it keeps 20 m/s but reorients from north to east, there is still acceleration because the velocity vector has changed, even though the speed is the same. The other descriptions aren’t the best fit: the rate of change of position is velocity, not acceleration; distance traveled per unit time is speed, not acceleration; and “increase in the rate of motion” is vague and can miss the essential idea that acceleration is about changes in velocity, not just a faster overall motion.

Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes over time. Since velocity includes both speed and direction, acceleration captures speeding up, slowing down, or a change in direction. Mathematically, it’s the derivative of velocity with respect to time (a = dv/dt), with units of meters per second squared.

So, when a car goes from 0 to 20 m/s in 5 seconds, its acceleration is 4 m/s^2 in the forward direction. If it keeps 20 m/s but reorients from north to east, there is still acceleration because the velocity vector has changed, even though the speed is the same.

The other descriptions aren’t the best fit: the rate of change of position is velocity, not acceleration; distance traveled per unit time is speed, not acceleration; and “increase in the rate of motion” is vague and can miss the essential idea that acceleration is about changes in velocity, not just a faster overall motion.