Types of Acceleration

Following are the different types of acceleration associated with an object,

• Uniform Acceleration 
• Non-Uniform Acceleration 
• Average Acceleration
• Instantaneous Acceleration

Now let’s learn about each type of acceleration in detail.

Uniform Acceleration

In case the velocity of an object changes in equal amounts during the same time interval, then the body is said to be in uniform acceleration.  In this case, neither the direction nor magnitude changes with respect to time. 

For Examples:

• A ball rolling down the slope.
• When a bicycle rider is riding the bicycle on a slope where both pedals are engaged.
• A kid sliding down from the slider.
• Motion of car with constant velocity, etc

Non-Uniform Acceleration

Variable acceleration is the velocity of the body that changes by varying amounts during the same time interval. Variable acceleration comes into the picture when the object’s direction or magnitude or both changes with respect to time.

For Examples:

• A car changing speed.
• Uniform circular motion
• The motion of the pendulum with changing speed

Average Acceleration

The average acceleration is defined as the change in velocity for a particular specified time interval. The average acceleration can be calculated for a time instance, as follows, 

a_v = Δ v / Δ t

a_v = (v_f – v_i) / (t_f – t_i)

where,

• v_f is the Final Velocity 
• v_i is the Initial Velocity
• t_i is the Initial Time
• t_f is the Final Time

Instantaneous Acceleration

In order to calculate the instantaneous acceleration, the average velocity can be computed between two points in time separated by Δt and let Δt approach zero. The result obtained is the derivative of the velocity function v(t), which is instantaneous acceleration. Mathematically,

[Tex]a(t)=\dfrac{d}{dt}v\left(t\right) [/Tex]

Thus, similar to velocity being the derivative of the position function, instantaneous acceleration is the derivative of the velocity function. We can show this graphically in the same way as instantaneous velocity. In (Figure), instantaneous acceleration at time t₀ is the slope of the tangent line to the velocity-versus-time graph at time t₀. We see that average acceleration given as,  

[Tex]\overline a=\dfrac{Δv}{Δt}[/Tex] 

Acceleration is defined as the rate of change in velocity. This implies that if an object’s velocity is increasing or decreasing, then the object is accelerating. Acceleration has both magnitude and direction, therefore it is a Vector quantity. According to Newton’s Second Law of Motion, acceleration is defined as the ratio of the force applied to the object to the mass of the object. 

Let’s understand more about acceleration and related concepts like Acceleration Formula, its Unit, Types, Graphs, Solved Examples, and FAQs, in this article!