As you ski
down a mountain, you will experience both acceleration and deceleration.
This can be both fun and dangerous. Acceleration is defined as a change
in velocity divided by a given amount of time. A skier accelerates as
he gets started going down the mountain and begins to pick up speed. As
the skier is coming to a stop, he begins to decelerate. Acceleration is
not what kills people, but rather a sudden deceleration. Acceleration
is safe as long as the skier is in control, but if the skier were to ever
lose control and hit a tree, then Newton’s laws come into effect
and the skier could be seriously injured.
