A rocket blasts off. In 10.0 seconds it is at 10,000 ft, traveling at 3600 mph. Assuming the direction is up, calculate the acceleration. (Hint: the rocket is not under constant acceleration).
If acceleration is not constant, there's no way to calculate it. All we can do is figure the average acceleration. That is
3600mi/hr / 10s = 360 mi/hr/s
You can convert that to ft/s^2 as you wish.
A rocket blasts off. In 10.0 seconds it is at 10,000 ft, traveling at 3600 mph. Assuming the direction is up, calculate the acceleration. (Hint: the rocket is not under constant acceleration).
To calculate the acceleration of the rocket, we can use the formula:
acceleration (a) = change in velocity (Δv) / change in time (Δt)
Since the rocket is not under constant acceleration, we need to calculate the change in velocity over a small time interval and then take the average acceleration.
Given:
Initial velocity (u) = 0 mph (since the rocket starts from rest),
Final velocity (v) = 3600 mph (velocity of the rocket after 10.0 seconds),
Initial position (s) = 0 ft (since the rocket starts from rest),
Final position (s') = 10,000 ft (position after 10.0 seconds).
To calculate the change in velocity, we can use the formula:
Δv = v - u
Δv = 3600 mph - 0 mph
Δv = 3600 mph
To calculate the change in time, we can use the formula:
Δt = t' - t
Δt = 10.0 seconds - 0 seconds
Δt = 10.0 seconds
Now we can calculate the acceleration using the formula:
a = Δv / Δt
a = (3600 mph) / (10.0 seconds)
a = 360 mph/second
Therefore, the acceleration of the rocket is 360 mph/second.