Mistake Master
Mistake Master · AP Physics 1 · Unit 1 · Topic 1.2 — Step-Through Animation
Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration: One Move, Three Floors
You'll learnhow displacement, velocity, and acceleration each measure the change in the one below.
Position, velocity, acceleration — each one measures how fast the floor below it is changing. Watch a cart speed up, coast, brake, and reverse, and learn why “negative acceleration” and “slowing down” are not the same sentence.
MOTION LAB
Before you start
What you're looking at
A cart rolling in the +x direction, with a velocity arrow and an acceleration arrow on separate rails above it.
The question
What is the cart's acceleration, and does “negative acceleration” always mean “slowing down”?
Watch for
Watch the two arrows agree while speeding up, then point opposite ways when the cart brakes.
What the symbols mean
The blue arrow is velocity, the amber arrow is acceleration; each stacked readout carries its own units.
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