Speed vs. Acceleration
What is difference between Speed and Acceleration? As well as mathematics or biology, part of being able to understand physics involves understanding different terminologies that are used. This due to the understanding of these basic concepts, students could determine the difference between the different computations and how various formulas are used in this particular subject. Below this post is all about the difference between Speed and Acceleration.
Difference between Speed and Acceleration
However, understanding and differentiating different concepts can be very confusing for most students. This is because these terminologies have similar characteristics. Speed and acceleration are two of these terminologies that can be confusing. But do not worry! This guide presents the differences between speed and acceleration.
Speed refers to the range of how a particular object changes position from point A to point B, as such, it is considered to be a quantity vector. Being a quantity vector, it means that it is not just how fast or how slowly an object changes direction from a point A to a point B. The direction to where the object changes.
The main difference between these two is that speed requires you to specify the direction in which the object is directed. As such, if you say that the car is going at 60 miles per hour, you are only referencing the speed of the car. But if you mention that the car is going 60 miles per hour north, then it is referring to the speed of the car.
The formula for speed is the distance traveled divided by the time it took the object to travel that distance. Based on the formula used to derive the speed of the object, the speed does not only refer to how slowly or quickly a particular object travels. He also worries about how long it took the object to travel between two points. Regarding the application, the speed helps the driver to determine which route allows reaching a particular point in the shortest possible time.
On the other hand, acceleration refers to the change in speed over a period of time. It measures the range of how fast or slow an object accelerates when traveling from one point to another. Its counterpart is deceleration, which is how fast or slow an object slows down. When you determine how many seconds it takes a car to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour south, in fact you are calculating the acceleration of the car.
In Summary
- Acceleration and speed are terms used in the study of physics.
- Speed refers to the range of how a particular object changes position from a point A to a point B. On the other hand, acceleration refers to the change of velocity a period of time.
- Speed is concentrated as soon as it takes an object to travel between two points. Acceleration focuses on how fast or how slowly it takes an object to achieve travel speed.
