Displacement under constant acceleration contains an initial-velocity contribution and an acceleration contribution.
Difficulty
Intermediate
Read time
5 min
Prerequisites
Basic algebra, consistent units, and the stated model assumptions
Source
OpenStax, College Physics 2e, §2.5 (Paul Peter Urone and Roger Hinrichs)OpenFormulaGraph equation reference; FormuLab adaptation details and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted wording, notation, applicability conditions and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example.
Displacement under constant acceleration contains an initial-velocity contribution and an acceleration contribution. Initial position must be added separately when an absolute final position is required.
| Symbol | Meaning | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Displacement | ||
| Velocity (initial) | ||
| Acceleration | ||
| Time |
Find displacement during uniform acceleration.
Estimate travel during a constant-acceleration segment.
A body starts from rest and accelerates at +2 m/s² for 3 s. Find its displacement.
OpenFormulaGraph equation reference; FormuLab adaptation details and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted wording, notation, applicability conditions and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example.
Assumptions
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