Calculating Acceleration of a Car

What is the magnitude of the car's acceleration?

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.

The acceleration of the car with an initial velocity of 16 m/s is 4 m/s².

Explaining the Calculation of Acceleration

Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics that measures how quickly an object's velocity changes over time. In this scenario, we are calculating the acceleration of a car that accelerates uniformly from an initial velocity of 16 m/s to a final velocity of 20 m/s over a distance of 36 meters.

To calculate the acceleration of the car, we can use the following formula:

v² = u² + 2as ............ Equation 1

Where:

  • v = Final velocity = 20 m/s
  • u = Initial velocity = 16 m/s
  • s = Distance = 36 m
  • a = Acceleration = ?

By substituting the given values into Equation 1, we can solve for the acceleration (a):

20² = 16² + 2a(36)

400 = 256 + 72a

72a = 144

a = 144/36 = 4 m/s²

Therefore, the magnitude of the car's acceleration is 4 m/s².

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