Can an object be moving when its acceleration is zero?

Answer 1

Acceleration, which is the change of velocity over the change in time, will equal zero when there is no change in velocity. This can occur when an object is stationary or when an object is traveling at a constant velocity.

Answer 2

Of course, since the instantaneous velocity indicates the velocity at a certain moment in time it does not describe the change in this velocity a moment from the stated instance, which is the acceleration. Therefore, the initial velocity can be zero and still experience an acceleration since the velocity may change in the next instance.

The instantaneous velocity of an object is merely the derivative of the position function, the acceleration which is the 2nd derivative of position. Therefore acceleration is first derivative of velocity, thus, the slope of the velocity function may be non zero while the function value at the given time may be zero. For instance consider a simple parabola, y = t2, as the position function, this is obvious from the non linear nature of the graph that there is an acceleration experienced. The velocity function is, by taking the derivative, v = 2t, which is a linear function, stating a constantly changing velocity. The acceleration, differential once again, is a = 2. Thus, we have found that the acceleration at every point in time the acceleration is 2. Looking at the velocity function, it is obvious that there is a zero at t = 0, while at all time the acceleration is 2. Thus, this is an example showing that a function value in a function does not describe its immediate changes from this current point to the next, thus knowing the instantaneous velocity of an object does not give any information about its acceleration unless a change in this velocity is given.

Answer 3

No. An object at rest (zero velocity), will remain at rest (have zero acceleration), unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This is part of Newton's first law of motion. So an object cannot have a speed of zero with an acceleration greater or less than zero.

Answer 4

Zero acceleration is when a particle doesn't move in an amount of time, thus the velocity is a constant.

Answer 5

Yes, it can. The speed for such object is a constant for both direction and absolute value of speed.

Answer 6

Yes, it is.

Consider a ball thrown into the air. At the highest point of the arch its velocity is zero, yet it's constantly accelerated by Earth's gravitation.

Answer 7

Drop an object from a height h. In the beginning, its velocity is zero, but it is accelerating towards the center of the earth with acceleration g.

Answer 8

Yes, you can move at any speed, as long as it remains the same, acceletarion occurs when there is change of velocity (change of speed or course)

Answer 9

Yes, an object can be moving when its acceleration is zero. If the object is moving at a constant velocity, its acceleration would be zero even though it is still in motion.