Physlet

Constant Linear Acceleration

Display Options :
X coordinate not shown|X coordinate shown|V coordinate shown | Animation with Ghosted object

Description

A ball moves across the screen with an increasing velocity. [Note: it starts "off screen" to the left.]

Answer Hints:

Set the animation to "X coordinate shown". Start, then immediately pause the animation. Use the step buttons to obtain the positions at
Determine the average speed between 0.0 and 1.0 seconds (like you just did in the previous activity).
Determine the average speed between 1.0 and 2.0 seconds (same as in 5b).
The "average" speed for uniformly accelerated motion is the exact "instantaneous speed" exactly half way through the interval (as measured by the clock, not the meter stick).
Subtract the answer to 5b from the answer to 5c. This is how much the speed of the circle changed in 1 second. How much does it change each second?
Try again by determining the average speed between 2.0 seconds and 3.0 seconds. You can then determine the change in speed from 0.5 to 2.5, and from 1.5 to 2.5. Do you get the same, or different results (it should be the same, but the computer forces some rounding that leads to small differences)?

Question

What is the acceleration of the ball? (You should be able to calculate it from the "show velocity" mode, but could you also calculate it from the "show X" mode?)