What is an object's acceleration if it is moving at 30 m/s and comes to a stop in 5 s?

1 Answer
Oct 25, 2016

The object's acceleration is "-6 m/s"^2".

Explanation:

Remember:
a = (∆v)/(∆t)
and

∆v = v_f - v_i

So, in this case:
v_i = "30 m/s" [fwd]
v_f = "0 m/s" (it comes to a stop)
∆t = 5s

Thus,
a = (∆v)/(∆t)

a = (v_f - v_i)/(∆t)

a = (-30 m/s)/("5s")

a = "-6 m/s/s" or "-6 m/s"^2"