Answer
10 m/s^2
Explanation
To solve this, we are using the average acceleration formula:
[tex]a=\frac{v_{f}-v_{i}}{t_{f}-t_{i}}[/tex]
where
[tex]a[/tex] is the average acceleration
[tex]v_{i}[/tex] is the initial velocity
[tex]v_{f}[/tex] is the final velocity
[tex]t_{i}[/tex] is the initial time
[tex]t_{f}[/tex] is the final time
Since the cheetah go from state of resting, the initial velocity and time are both zero, so [tex]v_{i}=0[/tex] and [tex]t_{i}=0[/tex]. Now, the cheetah go from resting to 20 m/s in two seconds, so [tex]v_{f}=\frac{20m}{s}[/tex] and [tex]t_{f}=2s[/tex].
Now that we have our values, let's replace them in our formula to find [tex]a[/tex]:
[tex]a=\frac{\frac{20m}{s}-0}{2s-0}[/tex]
[tex]a=\frac{\frac{20m}{s}}{2s}[/tex]
[tex]a=\frac{\frac{20m}{s}}{2s}[/tex]
[tex]a=\frac{20m}{2s^2}[/tex]
[tex]a=\frac{10m}{s^2}[/tex]
The average acceleration of the cheetah is 10 m/s^2
