Question about the units of acceleration?

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    Acceleration Units
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the units of acceleration, specifically exploring how different expressions of acceleration can be derived from the standard unit of meters per second squared. Participants examine the implications of changing units and the meaning behind these variations.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states that the general unit of acceleration is meters per second squared and provides examples of expressing acceleration in different units such as meters per half second squared and meters per second per minute.
  • Another participant argues that changing the units does not alter the dimension of acceleration, which remains length divided by time squared.
  • A further contribution compares acceleration to length measurements, suggesting that just as different units for length can represent the same distance, different units for acceleration can represent the same physical quantity, emphasizing that the numerical value alone lacks meaning without the unit.
  • A participant questions whether there is a specific question being posed in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the significance of changing units for acceleration, with some focusing on the dimensional consistency while others emphasize the contextual meaning of the units. The discussion does not reach a consensus on the implications of these unit changes.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the complexity of acceleration as a quantity that involves both length and time, and the implications of using different units may depend on the context in which they are applied.

kattahk
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The general unit if acceleration is meter per second per second.

Let's play with the unit of the standard acceleration due to gravity which is 9.8 meter per second per second.

Thus how acceleration can be explained if its unit is expressed as 4.9 meter per half second per second or 588 meter per second per minute or 35280 meter per second per hour.
 
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All you've done is change the units.

The dimension is still length/(time^2), so it's still an acceleration.
 
It's no more mysterious than the room I'm in being 8ft long, and also 2.4m long, and 0.0024km long. I can't communicate anything helpful by saying "it's this long", so we agree on a standard length and write a distance as multiples of that length. If we agree different standard lengths then the same distance is a different number of standard lengths.

Acceleration is a bit more complex because you've got a standard length and two standard time intervals to play with, but the principle is the same. The number doesn't mean anything on its own. The unit on its own doesn't mean anything. The number times the unit means the same thing whether you choose ms-2 or atto-parsecs per micro-fortnight per nano-year.
 
Is there a question here?
 

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