What is the difference between position velocity and acceleration

If a of t equals 12t-6 and a of t is v prime of t, this is a differential equation, v prime of t equals 12t-6 subject to the initial conditions v of 1 equals 9 and s of 1 equals So this is an initial value problem, you have a differential equation, 2 initial conditions and we'll solve this in a future exercise.

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Start Your Free Trial Learn more. Explanation Transcript If position is given by a function p x , then the velocity is the first derivative of that function, and the acceleration is the second derivative. Calculus Antiderivatives and Differential Equations. Science Biology Chemistry Physics.

English Grammar Writing Literature. However, in the case of velocity, the direction of the movement of the object is to be necessarily considered. Thus it is not wrong to say that velocity is the speed with which an object moves in a particular direction.

Suppose a child puts a step forward and returns back to the same position by taking a step in the backward direction. So, in this case, the overall change in position will be 0. Thus the velocity will be 0. To increase the velocity there must be an appropriate change in the position of the object with respect to time. As velocity is a vector quantity thus direction is an important factor to consider while evaluating velocity.

So, we can say that velocity is the result of the overall displacement of a body per unit of time. Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity of a moving object with respect to time. We have recently discussed that velocity specifies the change in position with respect to time. But acceleration is the variation in velocity with respect to time. Thus acceleration will be:. If a body moves with a fixed velocity all along its way, then this indicates that there is no change in velocity of the object with time.

Thus the acceleration of the object will be 0. However, when the change in velocity for each specific time interval is the same then it is said that the body is exhibiting constant acceleration.

So for a moving object whether the rate by which velocity is changing is constant or variable, it is said to be an accelerating object. The figure below shows the graphical representation of positive, negative, and zero acceleration:. Lee Johnson is a freelance writer and science enthusiast, with a passion for distilling complex concepts into simple, digestible language.

He's written about science for several websites including eHow UK and WiseGeek, mainly covering physics and astronomy. He was also a science blogger for Elements Behavioral Health's blog network for five years.

He studied physics at the Open University and graduated in How to Determine Magnitude of Velocity. How to Calculate a Change in Momentum. What is Speed? Difference Between Force and Velocity. How to Calculate the Mass of a Moving Object.

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