Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics that describes the rate at which an object's velocity changes over time. Velocity itself is a measure of speed and direction. Therefore, acceleration is not just about how fast an object is moving, but how quickly its speed (or direction, or both) is changing.
The formula used in this calculator is the standard definition of average acceleration:
a = (v_f – v_i) / t
Where:
a represents the acceleration.
v_f is the final velocity.
v_i is the initial velocity.
t is the time interval over which the velocity change occurs.
The units of acceleration are typically meters per second squared (m/s²) in the International System of Units (SI). This means that for every second that passes, the velocity of the object changes by a certain number of meters per second.
For example, if an object starts with a velocity of 10 m/s and reaches a velocity of 30 m/s after 5 seconds, its acceleration is calculated as:
a = (30 m/s – 10 m/s) / 5 s = 20 m/s / 5 s = 4 m/s².
This means the object's velocity increased by 4 m/s every second during that 5-second interval. A negative result would indicate deceleration (a decrease in velocity).
function calculateAcceleration() {
var initialVelocityInput = document.getElementById("initialVelocity");
var finalVelocityInput = document.getElementById("finalVelocity");
var timeInput = document.getElementById("time");
var resultDiv = document.getElementById("result");
var initialVelocity = parseFloat(initialVelocityInput.value);
var finalVelocity = parseFloat(finalVelocityInput.value);
var time = parseFloat(timeInput.value);
if (isNaN(initialVelocity) || isNaN(finalVelocity) || isNaN(time)) {
resultDiv.innerHTML = "Please enter valid numbers for all fields.";
return;
}
if (time <= 0) {
resultDiv.innerHTML = "Time interval must be greater than zero.";
return;
}
var acceleration = (finalVelocity – initialVelocity) / time;
if (isNaN(acceleration)) {
resultDiv.innerHTML = "Calculation resulted in an invalid number.";
} else {
resultDiv.innerHTML = "Acceleration: " + acceleration.toFixed(2) + " m/s²";
}
}