Acceleration: the Rate Velocity Changes

Lab Brief #3

🎯 Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Acceleration is change in velocity divided by the time taken, measured in metres per second squared. It is negative when an object slows, and it is non-zero even at constant speed if the direction is changing.

Key words

acceleration
The rate at which velocity changes, measured in m/s².
deceleration
Acceleration that acts opposite to the motion, reducing speed.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

ramp or board
ball
stopwatch
metre rule
masking tape

Get ready

⚠️ Safety first

Clamp or brace the ramp so it cannot slide.
Catch the ball at the bottom so it does not roll into a walkway.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "acceleration" and "deceleration" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Roll a ball down a ramp and time it past marks at 0.5 m, 1.0 m and 1.5 m. Plot distance against time, then against time squared. The second plot should be a straight line — that is the signature of constant acceleration.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 2

A car goes from 0 to 20 m/s in 8 s. What is its acceleration?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

An object moves at constant speed around a curve. Its acceleration is:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

Next: Reading a Distance-Time Graph All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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Acceleration: the Rate Velocity Changes

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