Question

A cyclist accelerates from 0 m/s to 8 m/s in 3 seconds. What is his acceleration? Is this acceleration higher than that of a car which accelerates from 0 to 30 m/s in 8 seconds

Answer 1

The average acceleration of an object is calculated as the final speed minus the initial speed divided by the elapsed time.

So:

$a = \frac{V_f-V_0}{T_2-T_1}$

Where

$V_f$= final speed

$V_0$ = initial speed

$T_2-T_1$ = elapsed time.

Thus:

The acceleration of the cyclist is:

$a = \frac{8-0}{3}$

a = 2.667$m / s ^ 2$

The acceleration of the car is:

$a = \frac{30-0}{8}$

a = 3.75 $m/s^2$

The average acceleration of the car is higher than the average acceleration of the cyclist.