Vibration in industrial machinery is monitored by accelerometers. Micromachined microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers are used in handheld electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and video-game controllers to detect movement and orientation of these devices. In unmanned aerial vehicles, accelerometers help to stabilize flight. Highly sensitive accelerometers are used in inertial navigation systems for aircraft and missiles. By contrast, accelerometers in free fall (falling toward the center of the Earth at a rate of about 9.81 m/s 2) will measure zero.Īccelerometers have many uses in industry, consumer products, and science. For example, an accelerometer at rest on the surface of the Earth will measure an acceleration due to Earth's gravity, straight upwards (by definition) of g ≈ 9.81 m/s 2. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is acceleration in a fixed coordinate system.

An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration.

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