Question

Determine the cause of acceleration in each scenario.

An airplane turning from south to west at constant speed is accelerating due to a change in
.

A biker going 7 m/s west after travelling north at 5 m/s is accelerating due to a change in
.

A runaway shopping cart speeding up as it goes down a hill is accelerating due to a change in
.

Answer 1

1. direction (velocity direction changes)
2. both speed and direction (velocity magnitude and direction change)
3. speed (magnitude of velocity increases)