Acceleration Lab

​Acceleration Lab Follow Up

​In the activity you did, you were challenged with changing the motion of an object - changing its speed without changing its direction, changing its direction without changing its speed, and changing both its speed and direction.

​When you talk about both the speed and direction, you are talking about the VELOCITY. Changing the speed and direction is called ACCELERATION.

When an object goes faster, goes slower, or changes direction it is accelerating.​

​Most often we think of acceleration as speeding up. It is also slowing down and changing direction. So really, we could say that a car has THREE accelerators - the gas pedal, the brake pedal, and the steering wheel

Open Ended

Is a dog chasing its tail, accelerating? Explain your answer

Open Ended

Is an airplane moving at a constant speed of 500 miles per hour in a straight line, accelerating? Explain your answer

Open Ended

Is a race car rounding a corner at a constant speed of 200 mph accelerating? Explain your answer

Open Ended

You're on a skateboard, moving very fast but at a constant speed. Are you accelerating? Explain.

Open Ended

Lara claims that if an object is accelerating, it must be moving. She also claims that if an object is not accelerating, it must be at rest. Do you agree with Lara? If not, what would you say to her to convince her she is wrong?

Multiple Choice

The Moon

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Choice

A broom falling

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Choice

A racecar moving around an oval track.

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Choice

A thrown rock after it leaves the thrower's hand and before it hits the ground.

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Choice

A toy top that is spinning, but staying in one place on the floor.

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Choice

A book sitting on a table.

• Accelerating

• Not Accelerating

Multiple Select

Two cars are rounding curves. Both cars are traveling at a constant speed of 40 kmph. Car A is rounding a very sharp curve and car B is rounding a gradual curve. Select ALL statements that are true.

• Car A and car B have the same acceleration because they have the same speed

• car A and car B have the same acceleration because they have the same velocity

• cars A and B both have zero acceleration because their speeds are not changing

• Car A is accelerating more than car B because it is changing direction at a faster rate

Multiple Select

A long distance runner out for a workout runs 4 km in 20 minutes, walks for a distance of 1 km, which takes 10 minutes, and then rests in one spot for 10 minutes. After that, she runs another 6 km in 35 minutes. Which of the following are true with respect to her motion?

• When she was at rest, you could not assign a number to her speed or her acceleration

• Her average speed for the entire trip is about 0.15 kilometers per minute

• She never accelerates because when she runs, walks, or rests, she does so at a constant speed and direction

• She accelerated whenever she changed her speed.

Open Ended

Are you accelerating right now? How do you know?