2.4

One Dimensional Constant Acceleration

Student Notes

The fan on a fan cart causes the cart to accelerate at a constant rate. The value of the acceleration is determined by the fan speed. The initial position, initial velocity, and acceleration can be set. Click the Play button to view the motion of the cart.
Try several combinations of position, velocity and acceleration and see how the motion and graphs differ. Then, select a combination of position, velocity and acceleration values. Sketch your prediction of the graphs, and then run the simulation to check.

Self-test

To check your understanding of position, velocity and acceleration graphs for uniform acceleration, set an initial position of zero, an initial velocity of -2 m/s, and an acceleration of 3 m/s2. Before you run the simulation, sketch your predictions of the three graphs, then check your prediction by viewing the simulation.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.