Acceleration Distance Calculator

What is Acceleration Distance?

Acceleration distance is how far your print head must travel before it reaches its target speed. On short walls or features, the head may never reach full speed because it runs out of room to accelerate (and must decelerate for the next corner).

The Formula

Distance = (V² - V₀²) / (2 × Acceleration)

Where V is target speed, V₀ is start speed, and acceleration is in mm/s².

Why Does This Matter?

For a wall to be printed at full speed, it needs to be at least twice the acceleration distance (accelerate + decelerate). If your wall is shorter than this, the printer never reaches the target speed, and your time savings from "high speed" settings are minimal.

Practical Examples

• Ender 3 stock (500 mm/s², 60 mm/s): 3.6mm to accelerate — even small features hit full speed
• Klipper tuned (3000 mm/s², 150 mm/s): 3.75mm — works well for most prints
• Bambu Lab X1C (10000 mm/s², 300 mm/s): 4.5mm — high accel keeps distance short

Tips

• Higher acceleration = shorter acceleration distance = faster prints on small features
• Input shaping (Klipper/Marlin) allows higher acceleration without quality loss
• For small detailed models, acceleration matters more than top speed