Name ________KEY__________________

Acceleration

Practice

Watch this acceleration animation. Then answer the questions on the Web page and check to see if your answers are correct.

Review

  1. Define acceleration.

Acceleration is a measure of the change in velocity of a moving object.

  1. Describe an example of acceleration and explain how velocity is changing.

(Answers will vary.) A car increasing its speed is an example of acceleration because its velocity is increasing by the driver applying gas. A car decreasing its speed is also an example of acceleration, called deceleration, because its velocity is decreasing as the driver applies the brakes.

  1. The skydiver will soon open her parachute. How will her velocity change when the parachute first opens?

Her velocity will change in terms of the speed she is going. Once the parachute opens, her speed will decrease on her descent to ensure safe landing. She will still be traveling down towards the ground so her velocity in terms of direction will remain the same. Only the speed will change.

Creative Commons License2.5 Acceleration Practice ANSWER KEY by MN Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.