Definition:Acceleration

Definition
The acceleration of a body $M$ is defined as the first derivative of the velocity of $M$ with respect to a given point of reference.

Colloquially, it is described as the rate of change of velocity.

It is important to note that as velocity is a vector quantity, then it follows from Derivative of a Vector that so is acceleration.

Dimension
Acceleration has dimension $L T^{-2}$.

Units

 * The SI unit of acceleration is the meter per second squared $\mathrm m \ \mathrm s^{-2}$, or, less formally, $\mathrm m / \mathrm s^2$.


 * The CGS unit of acceleration is the centimeter per second $\mathrm {cm} \ \mathrm s^{-2}$, or, less formally, $\mathrm {cm} / \mathrm s^2$.

Thus:
 * $1 \ \mathrm m \ \mathrm s^{-2} = 10^2 \ \mathrm {cm} \ \mathrm s^{-2} = 100 \ \mathrm {cm} \ \mathrm s^{-2}$

Also see

 * Displacement
 * Position


 * Velocity
 * Speed

Linguistic Note
The word acceleration comes from the Latin for to add speed.