How can you have a second squared, as in acceleration (m/s2)?

Question

I know that it works out symbolically, but can you really square a unit of time?

Answer 1

It's not literally that a second of time is being squared, in some way, it's what the equation works out to, mathematically meters per second per second. Break it down into the actual mathematical process if that's hard to wrap your head around
(m/s) / (s/1)
= (m/s) * (1/s)
=m/ (s*s)
=m/s^2

So, in other words, now that I see your edit :) No you can't literally square a unit of time. That could only be done theoretically. Theoretically speaking, since time is the fourth dimension, squaring a unit of time would take you into the fifth, I guess, which is way beyond my theoretical knowledge, but not particularly applicable to the problem of velocity.

Answer 2

Acceleration is a rate of change of velocity. It measures how fast the speed is changing.

For example, if you run 10 ft in 2 s, we say you have a velocity of 5 ft/s. For every 1 second of time, you have changed your distance by 5 ft.

Now, let's say you change your speed at a rate 10 ft/s /s. For every 1 second of time, you have increased your speed by 10 ft/s. So after 3 seconds, you have gained 30 ft/s to your speed. So if you were originally travelling at 20 ft/s, you are now moving at 50 ft/s!

The squared is just a way of writing less mathematically. No one is actually squaring time.

Answer 3

All references I have read state that the formula for the velocity of a falling object is 32feet per second squared, this is confusing and incorrect. An object falls for 20 seconds, if you square the 20 you get 400, 32 times equals 12800 feet per second which is 87273 MPH. Use the formula 32feet per second per second you 32x20equals 640 feet per second which is 436.4 MPH, this is the correct answer.

Answer 4

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. It's like a measurement. Meters per second per second or m/s/s. How much the speed has increased in a second.

Answer 5

Its not possible to imagine physically .. i guess only distance squared can be imagined .. lets see if this helps ..

when u r calculating speed, u find the distance travelled per time. .. so u get metres per second .. i.e., m/s

when u calculate acceleration, u find change in speed per unit time .. so u get speed per second .. i.e., .. (m/s)/s .. and this becomes metres per seconds squared.

but there is no physical quantity that has second squared as its unit .. atleast not any in my knowledge

Answer 6

well, think of it this way: acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, and units of velocity in SI is m/s. So, if acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, its units would actually look like (m/s)/s, therefore m/s2

Answer 7

It's shorthand for reading and discussing it. It is like referring to mp3 as "em pee cubed"
Distance is meters
Velocity is meters per second
And acceleration is meters per second per second.

Answer 8

acceleration is the rate of change of velocity from definition: velocity =displacement /time taken since rate of change of velocity =velocity /time taken displacement /time * 1/ time the units are m/s2

Answer 9

meter per second squared = meter per second per second.

If something falls at 32 feet per second squared, it means it falls at 32 feet per second per second.
In other words at 1 second it is falling at 32ft/s, at 2 seconds it is falling at 64 ft/s, at 3 seconds it is moving at 96 ft/s, etc.

Answer 10

Simple;

Velocity is meters per second; and if you increase your velocity each second by 1 meter per second, then you have an accelration of 1 meter per second , each second...which is sec^2.

vel.=m/sec
accel.= meter/sec/sec = meter/sec2