Mission KC4 Acceleration
Hold down the T key for 3 seconds to activate the audio accessibility mode, at which point you can click the K key to pause and resume audio. Useful for the Check Your Understanding and See Answers.
A car is moving eastward along Lake Avenue and decreasing its speed from 35 mph to 25 mph. The direction of this car's acceleration is ____.
(Note: The actual statement concerning the direction of the acceleration is picked at random from a collection of questions and may differ from the one stated above.)
Acceleration is a vector quantity and it has a direction. For an object moving in a straight line, the direction of the acceleration is dependent upon two factors:
- the direction that the object moves, and
- whether the object is speeding up or slowing down
If an object is speeding up, then the direction of the acceleration is in the same direction that the object is moving. If an object is slowing down, then the direction of its acceleration is in the opposite direction that the object is moving.
Acceleration is a vector quantity and it has a direction. The direction of acceleration depends on the two factors described in the Know the Law section. Careful attention must be given to both factors. Dissect the sentence looking for information about both factors. Then use the principle above to answer the question.
