The unit to measure speed is m/s which in a straightforward manner implies that x metres is covered per second however the unit for acceleration is m/s^2 which is kind of making it difficult to understand how it works..
I had this thought in the middle of a physics test and have been pondering ever since. Would be great if someone could eli5.
In: Physics
Acceleration is a measure of how quickly something is speeding up or slowing down. The unit used to measure acceleration is called “meters per second squared” (m/s²). Let’s break down how this unit works in a simple way.
Meters (m): This part represents the distance. A meter is a measure of how far something moves. Imagine you’re playing with a toy car, and you want to know how far it travels. You would measure that distance in meters.
Per Second (per s): This part represents time. It tells us how quickly something is happening over a period of time. In this case, it’s “per second.” So, it’s like asking, “How much distance does something cover in one second?”
Squared (²): This part means that you’re multiplying something by itself. In the context of acceleration, it means you’re looking at how much speed is changing every second.
So, when you measure acceleration in meters per second squared (m/s²), you’re essentially calculating how much an object’s speed is changing over a one-second period. For example, if a car goes from 0 meters per second (stationary) to 10 meters per second in 1 second, its acceleration would be 10 m/s² because it increased its speed by 10 meters per second in one second.
In simpler terms, acceleration is all about how fast something is speeding up or slowing down, and the unit m/s² helps us quantify that change in speed over time.
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