It is important not to confuse velocity with constant acceleration.
To understand the concept of constant acceleration , it is necessary that we first know clearly what each of the words that make up the expression refers to. Acceleration , which comes from the Latin word acceleratĭo , refers to the act and result of accelerating (increasing speed, granting speed ). Constant , on the other hand, is that which has constancy (perseverance or certainty).
From these definitions, we can now move forward with the idea of constant acceleration . For acceleration to exist, a body must change its speed of travel . Acceleration reflects how speed changes over a certain period of time.
Differences between constant velocity and acceleration
Suppose that a car traveling at 100 kilometers per hour reaches, ten minutes later , a speed of 120 kilometers per hour . Said vehicle accelerated to 20 kilometers per hour in a period of ten minutes .
It is impossible to keep this acceleration constant since, by increasing its speed by 20 kilometers per hour every ten minutes , the car would soon reach its maximum speed (it could not go faster). Furthermore, a motorist can never increase his speed constantly (that is, apply a constant acceleration to the vehicle) since he must brake to avoid hitting other cars or to avoid going off the road on a curve, for example.
Speed, which reflects how long it takes to travel a distance, can be constant. A person who walks along the beach always at the same pace is likely to maintain a constant speed until he or she decides to stop.
A body in free fall can develop a constant acceleration until it reaches the surface.
Body in free fall
To find cases of constant acceleration , we can refer to an object in free fall, whose speed can increase until it reaches the surface. The acceleration involved in this case is the force of gravity, which constantly modifies the speed of the body, making it fall towards the earth faster and faster. A general formula that we can use to find out the position on the y axis of a body in constant acceleration can be seen in the second image.
This can be studied from the complexity of physics, to analyze various phenomena in a complementary way, but it can also be applied in areas outside of science, such as animation. In a cartoon, a computer-generated graphics film, or a video game, to name one example, applying physics concepts is necessary to create believable scenes, especially if the content focuses on action .
When a character jumps, there are two main phases of his animation: his increase in altitude , which is limited by various factors until the force propelling him upward is nullified; its descent, where the concept of constant acceleration can be precisely appreciated. The same thing happens if you drop from a structure, since the force of gravity will modify its speed in each frame until the body collides with the ground and the fall stops.
The MRUA and constant acceleration
Free fall is an example of uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion ( MRUA ), which is also known as uniformly varied rectilinear motion (or MRUV ); It is a physics phenomenon that describes the movement of a mobile phone along a straight path while it is exposed to a constant acceleration.
It is important to note that the MRUA is one of the special cases of the so-called uniformly accelerated motion ( MUA ), which is defined as follows: any movement that leads an object to experience an acceleration and maintain its direction and magnitude constant. over time, without losing firmness.
In addition to free fall , another example of movement in which constant acceleration is seen is that of a particle that leaves rest to begin to undergo a constant force that accelerates it.