Acceleration is a measure of how quickly the velocity of an object changes. So, the acceleration is the change in the velocity, divided by the time. Acceleration has a magnitude (a value) and a direction. The direction of the acceleration does not have to be the same as the direction of the velocity. The units for acceleration are meters per second squared (m/s 2). a = acceleration (m/s 2) v f = the final velocity (m/s)