Which of the following represents a case in which you are not accelerating?

Which of the following represents a case in which you are not accelerating?

1) Driving 60 miles per hour around a curve.

2) Going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 10 seconds.

3) Slamming on the brakes to come to a stop at a stop sign.

4) Driving in a straight line at 60 miles per hour.

Answer: 4) Driving in a straight line at 60 miles per hour.

Acceleration has been described in this case as the rate of change of velocity with reference to time. Acceleration therefore entails a change in velocity of an object which is not the case every time an object is in motion with uniform speed along a straight line.

In option 1, to drive around a curve, the direction of velocity has to change and therefore indicates that there exists centripetal acceleration that acts on the object – the car.

Option 2 therefore indicates that going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 10 seconds means that there is an increase in the magnitude of velocity and as a result there is linear acceleration in this instance.

Option 3 involves braking before coming to a stand still; this process entails a deceleration, which is a negative acceleration since the velocity is diminishing at a particular interval of time.

However, in option 4, the car is moving in a straight line at a constant speed of 60miles per hour the velocity is therefore will not change. Still there is no change in magnitude of the velocity and the direction in which the object is thrown and hence no type of acceleration acts on it. This scenario lies in the linear uniform motion example since the rate of change of velocity or acceleration is zero.