If Speed Is Constant Is Acceleration Zero: WHY IS THE ACCELERATION OF CONSTANT SPEED 0?

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    2023-03-16T18:24:45+00:00

    If Speed Is Constant Is Acceleration Zero: WHY IS THE ACCELERATION OF CONSTANT SPEED 0?

    Introduction

    Have you ever wondered why the acceleration of constant speed is zero? It seems counterintuitive, right? I mean, if something is moving at a constant speed, shouldn’t there be some sort of force or energy driving it forward? Well, today we’re going to dive deeper into the science behind this phenomenon and explore why acceleration doesn’t always equal motion. So buckle up and get ready to learn something new!

    The Problem with Constant Speed

    The ubiquitous law of physics states that the velocity (speed) of an object is always inversely proportional to its acceleration. This means that if acceleration is constant, then velocity must also be constant. The reason why this is so is because the faster an object moves, the greater its force of gravity will be pulling on it, and the harder it will be for the object to accelerate. In fact, at a constant speed, force equals mass times acceleration. However, when you increase your speed, the force of gravity only increases by a constant amount; it doesn’t suddenly become infinite as your speed increases! This may seem like a minor detail but it has huge consequences for our understanding of motion.

    The Solution: Acceleration

    There is a fundamental problem with the assumption that acceleration is always equal to speed. For example, if I am travelling at 30 miles per hour and you suddenly drive up next to me and accelerate to 50 miles per hour, I will experience a sudden increase in speed. However, if we continue travelling at 30 mph while you rapidly accelerate to 70 mph, my speed will have only increased by 5%. This discrepancy is because my original speed (30 mph) was constant while your new speed (50 mph) was increasing.

    2. The velocity of an object is not simply the sum of its motion along each of its axis. Velocity also depends on how fast it is moving along the direction of motion. In the above example, if I were travelling northward on a straight road at 30 mph and you drove up next to me and started driving southward at 50 mph, my velocity would be unchanged since I am still traveling northward at the same rate. However, your velocity would be greater than mine since you are moving in the opposite direction (50 vs 30).

    3. If an object starts out moving slowly and then quickly increases its speed, it won’t reach its original velocity until after it has travelled a longer distance. Consider a car that starts out going 10 miles per hour and then speeds up to 20 miles per hour over the course of one minute. At first glance this seems like the car would reach its original speed (20 miles per hour) after just one minute had passed, but in reality it would take two minutes for the car to reach its original speed. This is because at first the car was moving very slowly (10 mph) and then quickly increased its speed (20 mph), which caused it to travel a greater distance in just one minute than if it had continuously moved at the original 10 mph.

    Conclusion

    This question has puzzled scientists for centuries, and it still remains unanswered. There are several theories on why acceleration of constant speed is 0, but none have been fully verified. One theory suggests that at a certain point the force of gravity becomes too great to overcome, while another suggests that the speed of light is the limiting factor. The mystery of acceleration of constant speed at infinite distance will likely remain unsolved for some time to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy pondering over its implications!

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