FearOfPhysics.com: Position, velocity, and acceleration

Learn about Position, Velocity, and Acceleration

If you want to understand how an object (like a car, ball, person, or rocket) moves, you have to understand three things about what it means "to be moving." These three things "stick" to any object that moves, and are numbers that scientifically describe just how an object's motion is working. These three things are:

  1. Position. This is precisely where an object is located.

  2. Speed. Precisely how fast an object is moving.

    and..(the most difficult for most people)...

  3. Acceleration. Precisely how fast an object's speed is changing.

This selection allows you to play with the position, velocity, and acceleration for two objects at the same time. Try to learn about these three motion properties by comparing differences in your two objects' motion, for differently selected properties.

I'd like my first object to be a .

Start it at position

Give it a speed of

Give it an acceleration of

I'd like my second object to be a .

Start it at position

Give it a speed of

Give it an acceleration of

Notes:
  • Negative accelerations try to get the objects to move towards the left, positive accelerations towards the right.
  • You must give an object either a velocity that is not zero, or an acceleration that is not zero (or both!), or it will not move at all!