The average acceleration [tex]\vec a_{\rm ave}[/tex] over some time interval [tex][t_1,t_2][/tex] is equal to the ratio of the change in velocity [tex]\vec v_2-\vec v_1[/tex] over the duration of the interval [tex]t_2-t_1[/tex], or
[tex]\vec a_{\rm ave}=\dfrac{\Delta\vec v}{\Delta t}=\dfrac{\vec v_2-\vec v_1}{t_2-t_1}[/tex]
which can be split into the [tex]x[/tex] and [tex]y[/tex] components as
[tex]a_{\rm{ave},x}=\dfrac{v_{2,x}-v_{1,x}}{t_2-t_1}=\dfrac{-170\frac{\rm m}{\rm s}-90\frac{\rm m}{\rm s}}{30.0\,\mathrm s-0}\approx-8.67\dfrac{\rm m}{\mathrm s^2}[/tex]
[tex]a_{\rm{ave},y}=\dfrac{v_{2,y}-v_{1,y}}{t_2-t_1}=\dfrac{40\frac{\rm m}{\rm s}-110\frac{\rm m}{\rm s}}{30.0\,\mathrm s-0}\approx-2.33\dfrac{\rm m}{\mathrm s^2}[/tex]
The magnitude of this average acceleration is
[tex]\left\|\vec a_{\rm ave}\right\|=\sqrt{{a_{\rm{ave},x}}^2+{a_{\rm{ave},y}}^2}\approx8.98\dfrac{\rm m}{\mathrm s^2}[/tex]
and its direction is [tex]\theta[/tex] such that
[tex]\tan\theta=\dfrac{a_{\rm{ave},y}}{a_{\rm{ave},x}}\implies\theta\approx-164.9^\circ[/tex]
which corresponds to a direction of about 15.1º South of West.
