Question
When do you say a body is in
(i) uniform acceleration, and
(ii) variable acceleration?
Solution
(i) Uniform acceleration:
When an object travels in a straight line and its velocity changes by equal amounts in equal intervals of time, the object is said to be in ‘uniform acceleration’.
For example, a body falling freely to the ground has a uniform acceleration of 9.8 m/s2 as its velocity increases by 9.8 m/s after every one second.
(ii) Variable acceleration:
When the velocity of an object changes by unequal amounts in equal intervals of time, the object is said to have ‘variable acceleration’.
For example, if the speed of a car travelling along a straight road increases by unequal amounts, then the car is moving with non-uniform acceleration.
