A car accelerates in 12s from 10m/s to 50m/s. Calculate its acceleration.
Firstly, write down the information you know.
S (displacement) - unknown
U (inital speed) - 10m/s
V (final speed) - 50m/s
A (acceleration) - we want to find this out
T (time) - 12s
The equation that links acceleration and the other knowns in this scenario is:
v = u + at
Rearrange to form:
a = (v - u) / t
Now you can substitute in the values.
a = (50 - 10) / 12
a = 40/12
a = 3.333
Therefore the car's acceleration is 3.33m/s2 (make sure you remember the correct units!).
