What does meters per second per second mean?

Question

I googled this but I still don’t get it. I’m not mathematics inclined at all so literally make this a ELI5!

In: 11

Answer 1

It is a measure of acceleration as opposed to a measure of velocity. So velocity or speed is how far something is travelling in a second, acceleration is how fast the velocity is changing, so the more seconds go past there is an increase in how fast something travels in a second. So if you jump from an aeroplane initially you aren’t going very fast, but as you continue to fall you accelerate, so by the time you hit the ground you are going fast enough to kill you.