A car is traveling at 100 kilometers per hour. One minute later the car is traveling at 120 kilometers per hour. What is the average acceleration or the car?

Question

A car is traveling at 100 kilometers per hour.  One minute later the car is traveling at 120 kilometers per hour.  What is the average acceleration or the car?

Answer 1

Average acceleration is change in velocity, divided by change in time. 

 

To find the change in velocity, (or the change in any quantity) subtract: (Final velocity) - (Initial velocity) = 20km/h

 

Divide this by the amount of time, but be careful! The time you have is in minutes, but the velocities you're given are in km/h. You will want to convert the minutes to hours first, and then divide: (Change in Velocity) / (Change in Time)

 

When you get your answer, your units should be in km/h². As a sanity check to make sure you've typed the answer in to your calculator correctly, know that your final answer should be BIGGER than 20 km/h^2.