The rate of change of velocity is called ________________.

Pick the correct answer from the following.

 Acceleration

The rate at which velocity changes is called acceleration.

Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics that describes how quickly an object’s velocity changes over time. Since velocity is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude (speed) and direction, acceleration occurs when either the speed of the object changes, the direction of motion changes, or both.

For example, if a car speeds up, it is experiencing a positive acceleration. If it slows down, that is called negative acceleration, or deceleration. If the car changes direction while maintaining constant speed (like turning around a curve), the acceleration still occurs because the velocity’s direction is changing.

The formula for acceleration is:

Acceleration=Change in Velocity / Time Taken

Where:

• Change in Velocity is the difference between the final and initial velocity.
• Time Taken is the duration over which this change in velocity occurs.

Acceleration is measured in meters per second squared (m/s²), which tells us how much the velocity increases or decreases every second.

In summary, acceleration explains how the velocity of an object changes in terms of both speed and direction. This concept is key in understanding motion in mechanics and is used to analyze various physical phenomena.