Acceleration Calculator
Find acceleration from the change in velocity over time.
Result
Acceleration (m/s²)
5.000
How it works
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes: a = (final − initial) ÷ time, in metres per second squared. A car going from 0 to 27 m/s in 9 seconds accelerates at 3 m/s². The odd unit "per second squared" simply means "metres per second, per second" — you gain 3 m/s of speed with every second that passes. On Earth, free fall accelerates at about 9.81 m/s², which is why a dropped object is moving at nearly 10 m/s after one second and 20 after two. In physics, acceleration means any change in velocity, not just speeding up. Braking is negative acceleration, and — less intuitively — a car going round a bend at constant speed is also accelerating, because its direction is changing. Velocity is a vector, so turning changes it even when the speedometer does not move.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the acceleration formula?
a = (v_final − v_initial) ÷ time.
What are the units?
Metres per second squared (m/s²).
Is an object that slows down accelerating?
Yes, in the physical sense. Acceleration is any change in velocity, so braking is simply acceleration with a negative sign — often called deceleration in everyday language.
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