help with math question, Its hard for me to answer it

[australopithecus23]

You have a velocity graph.
At 1.93 seconds the object is moving 0.575[m/s].
At 10.83 seconds the object is moving 1.19[m/s].
What is the object's acceleration at time equals 4.155?

find answer in [m/s^2]

 

[Deleted member 4993]

You have a velocity graph.
At 1.93 seconds the object is moving 0.575[m/s].
At 10.83 seconds the object is moving 1.19[m/s].
What is the object's acceleration at time equals 4.155?

find answer in [m/s^2]

Please show your work/thoughts so that we know where to begin to help you.

To start with :

What is the definition of acceleration - in terms of velocity?

 

[wjm11]

You have a velocity graph.
At 1.93 seconds the object is moving 0.575[m/s].
At 10.83 seconds the object is moving 1.19[m/s].
What is the object's acceleration at time equals 4.155

The question cannot be answered with the information provided; only the average acceleration between 1.93s and 10.83s can be determined.

a (avg) = (v2 – v1)/t

To determine the instantaneous acceleration, you need the equation of the velocity graph/function, which you then find the derivative of. The derivative of the velocity function (with respect to time) is the acceleration function.

 

[mmm4444bot]

Hi Lucy!

Do you actually have the velocity graph about which you posted?

Acceleration is the slope (rate of change) of a tangent line to any given point on the velocity graph.

If the velocity graph is a straight line, then acceleration is constant throughout (since the slope of a straight line does not change).

Did you receive any other information with this exercise? Perhaps there is some wording (in the absense of any graph) which allows you to determine whether or not the acceleration is constant.

~ Mark