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Average Acceleration Calculator

Average acceleration from velocity change over time.

How it is calculated

The tool computes a = (vf − vi) ÷ t. Here vi is the starting velocity and vf the final velocity, both in metres per second (m/s), and t is the elapsed time in seconds. The answer is in m/s² and rounded to two decimals. A negative result means the object is slowing down (or moving the other way) along your chosen positive direction. The time must be greater than zero, otherwise no result is shown. The tool treats velocity as a signed number along one line; it does not combine directions in two or three dimensions. To use km/h, divide by 3.6 first.

Worked example

A car speeds up from 5 m/s to 27.78 m/s (about 100 km/h) in 6 seconds. Step 1: change in velocity = 27.78 − 5 = 22.78 m/s. Step 2: divide by the time: 22.78 ÷ 6 = 3.7967. Step 3: rounded to two decimals the average acceleration is 3.80 m/s². Braking from 20 m/s to 0 in 4 s would give −5.00 m/s² in the same way.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering speeds in km/h or mph while the result is labelled m/s²; convert to m/s first (divide km/h by 3.6).
  • Swapping initial and final velocity, which flips the sign and turns speeding up into slowing down.
  • Entering the time in minutes or hours instead of seconds.
  • Entering the final velocity as the change in velocity; the tool subtracts the initial value itself.
  • Treating a negative answer as an error: it simply means deceleration in the chosen direction.

About this calculator

Average acceleration is simply the change in velocity divided by the elapsed time, a = Δv/Δt — it tells you how quickly velocity changed on average over an interval, without needing to know what happened moment-to-moment in between.

It's the first calculation any physics student does for motion problems, and it's exactly what's behind everyday numbers like a car's "0 to 100 km/h in 5 seconds" spec or a sprinter's acceleration off the blocks — both are average accelerations over a short window, even though the real, instantaneous acceleration varies throughout.

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