Exercise
A car was accelerated up to 120 kmph and the speed was measured at two second intervals. The results are
Time (s) Speed (kmph)
0 0
2 35
4 60
6 78
8 95
10 110
12 120
You will use this data to calculate the acceleration of the car and how it changes over time. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity (or speed if you’re not considering the direction of the motion). You can estimate it from the values in the table. The speed changed from 0 kmph to 35 kmph in the first 2 seconds so we can assume that the acceleration at time 0 s was approximately (35-0)/2 kmph per second. Use Excel to calculate the acceleration at the other points in time – first enter the values above and then add a new column for the acceleration. You do not have to calculate the acceleration at time 12 seconds. Graph the acceleration values against time. Label the graph correctly.
