 |
| ||
| |||
|
| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
|
Question from Android, a student: At a certain instant, two cars A and B are 2000 ft apart. At this instant, car A is traveling at 15 miles/hr. and accelerating at 3 ft/s^2 while B is moving towards A at 30 miles/hr. and an acceleration of 2 ft/s^2. Find the ff: |
Hi Android,
The displacement $d$ of a body moving along a line with uniform acceleration is $d = v_0 t + \frac12 a c^2$ where $v_0$ is the initial velocity, $t$ is the time and $a$ is the acceleration. Suppose you start your clock at the instant the cars are 2000 feet apart.
First express the velocities of the cars in feet per second. After $t$ seconds how far has the first car travelled? How far has the second car travelled? What is the sum of the distances the two cars have travelled in $t$ seconds? At what time $t$ is this sum equal to 2000 feet?
I hope this helps,
Penny
| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
 |
|
Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.