We find the acceleration for 2- or 3-d motion in a way that should seem familiar. Consider the motion of the luge over a specific time interval. The luge has an initial instantaneous velocity at the beginning of the interval, and a final instantaneous velocity at the end of the interval. The difference between these (final minus initial velocities) is the change in velocity, and it is a vector.
To get the average acceleration over this time interval, divide the change in velocity by the size of the time interval. As the size of the time interval shrinks to zero, the average acceleration approaches a limit that we call the instantaneous acceleration. Both average and the instantaneous accelerations are vector quantities.
Determine the acceleration vectors by using vector subtraction. Notice the legend change to units of velocity, 1km/min. Record your data on the worksheet under columns 7, 8, and 9.
|
|
|
© April, 1998, Montana State University-Bozeman
