Question

How is acceleration measured?

Answer 1

Change in velocity per second is called acceleration. It determines whether a body speeds up or speeds down. It depends on velocity and time as well as on force and mass of a body, according to Newton’s second law. Acceleration is a vector quantity. It can either be a varying quantity or a constant depending on the forces.

Complete answer:
Acceleration is the change in velocity of a body per unit time. Its SI unit is $m{{s}^{-2}}$. It is given by-
$a=\dfrac{v-u}{t}$
Here, $a$ is the acceleration
$v$ is the final velocity
$u$ is the initial velocity
$t$ is the time taken
Acceleration is a vector quantity. When an object is accelerating, acceleration is in the direction of motion, when it is decelerating, the acceleration is opposite to the motion.
Acceleration also depends on the force. We know that force is the product of mass and acceleration. Therefore,
$F=ma$
Here, $F$ is the force applied
$m$ is mass of the object
So, from the above equation, we can calculate acceleration as-
$a=\dfrac{F}{m}$
When acceleration is constant, we can use the equation of motion in one direction to calculate the magnitude of acceleration. There are three equations of motion, they are-
$\begin{aligned} & v=u+at \\\ & {{v}^{2}}={{u}^{2}}+2as \\\ & s=ut+\dfrac{1}{2}a{{t}^{2}} \\\ \end{aligned}$
Here, $v$ is the final velocity
$u$ is the initial velocity
$s$ is the displacement
$a$ is acceleration
$t$ is time taken
Therefore, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity of a body and it can be calculated in various ways.

Note:
According to Newton’s second law, A body accelerates when an external force is applied. Acceleration is one of the parameters which is used to describe the motion of a body and also the force required. Acceleration can be translational as well as rotational. In circular motion, the acceleration of the body is towards the centre.