Menu
Physics Lesson 3.11.3 - Why we cannot use the concept of Scalar Acceleration
Please provide a rating, it takes seconds and helps us to keep this resource free for all to use
Welcome to our Physics lesson on Why we cannot use the concept of Scalar Acceleration, this is the third lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Acceleration v's Time Graph, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
Why we cannot use the concept of Scalar Acceleration
The acceleration discussed so far is a vector quantity as its value could also be negative. This means it involves the direction. But what happens if we are not interested in the direction but only in the magnitude of the acceleration?
In this case, we are concerned only whether the object is speeding up or slowing down. Therefore, we are interested only in the change in speed in the unit of time. We have
If we use the vertical flipping method as discussed in the Position vs Time to Distance vs Time conversion or in the Velocity vs Time to Speed vs Time conversion, we would obtain the flowing graphs:
You have reach the end of Physics lesson 3.11.3 Why we cannot use the concept of Scalar Acceleration. There are 5 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Acceleration v's Time Graph, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
More Acceleration v's Time Graph Lessons and Learning Resources
Whats next?
Enjoy the "Why we cannot use the concept of Scalar Acceleration" physics lesson? People who liked the "Acceleration v's Time Graph lesson found the following resources useful:
- Scalar Feedback. Helps other - Leave a rating for this scalar (see below)
- Kinematics Physics tutorial: Acceleration v's Time Graph. Read the Acceleration v's Time Graph physics tutorial and build your physics knowledge of Kinematics
- Kinematics Revision Notes: Acceleration v's Time Graph. Print the notes so you can revise the key points covered in the physics tutorial for Acceleration v's Time Graph
- Kinematics Practice Questions: Acceleration v's Time Graph. Test and improve your knowledge of Acceleration v's Time Graph with example questins and answers
- Check your calculations for Kinematics questions with our excellent Kinematics calculators which contain full equations and calculations clearly displayed line by line. See the Kinematics Calculators by iCalculator™ below.
- Continuing learning kinematics - read our next physics tutorial: Motion in Two Dimensions. Projectile Motion
Help others Learning Physics just like you
Please provide a rating, it takes seconds and helps us to keep this resource free for all to use
We hope you found this Physics lesson "Acceleration v's Time Graph" useful. If you did it would be great if you could spare the time to rate this physics lesson (simply click on the number of stars that match your assessment of this physics learning aide) and/or share on social media, this helps us identify popular tutorials and calculators and expand our free learning resources to support our users around the world have free access to expand their knowledge of physics and other disciplines.