A cyclist increases speed from 0 to 6 m/s in 2 s. What is the average acceleration?

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Multiple Choice

A cyclist increases speed from 0 to 6 m/s in 2 s. What is the average acceleration?

Average acceleration tells us how fast velocity changes per second. It’s final velocity minus initial velocity divided by the time taken. Here, the speed goes from 0 to 6 m/s in 2 s, so the change in velocity is 6 m/s and the time is 2 s. a = 6 m/s ÷ 2 s = 3 m/s^2. This means the cyclist’s speed increases by about 3 m/s each second on average. If the acceleration were constant, that 3 m/s^2 would be the rate of increase throughout the 2 seconds. The other values don’t fit because they’d require bigger or smaller changes in velocity over the same 2-second interval (e.g., 6 m/s^2 would imply a 12 m/s change in 2 s, 9 m/s^2 would imply 18 m/s change, and 1 m/s^2 would imply only a 2 m/s change).

Average acceleration tells us how fast velocity changes per second. It’s final velocity minus initial velocity divided by the time taken. Here, the speed goes from 0 to 6 m/s in 2 s, so the change in velocity is 6 m/s and the time is 2 s. a = 6 m/s ÷ 2 s = 3 m/s^2. This means the cyclist’s speed increases by about 3 m/s each second on average. If the acceleration were constant, that 3 m/s^2 would be the rate of increase throughout the 2 seconds. The other values don’t fit because they’d require bigger or smaller changes in velocity over the same 2-second interval (e.g., 6 m/s^2 would imply a 12 m/s change in 2 s, 9 m/s^2 would imply 18 m/s change, and 1 m/s^2 would imply only a 2 m/s change).

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