Question

On route to senior prom a couple was cut off by another car the couple traveling 20 m slammed on the brakes and slow down to a speed of 8 m in a time of 1.4 seconds what was the couples acceleration?

Answer 1

To find the couple's acceleration when their car slows down from 20 m/s to 8 m/s in 1.4 seconds, we use the formula a = Δv / Δt, which results in an acceleration of -8.57 m/s².

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the couple's acceleration, we can use the formula for acceleration (a) which is the change in velocity (Δv) divided by the change in time (Δt). Acceleration is defined as the rate at which the velocity of an object changes with time.

In this scenario, the couple's car went from 20 m/s to 8 m/s in a duration of 1.4 seconds. Thus, the change in velocity (Δv) is 20 m/s - 8 m/s = 12 m/s. Using the given time interval (Δt) of 1.4 seconds, the acceleration can be calculated as:

Acceleration (a) = Change in velocity (Δv) / Change in time (Δt)

a = (8 m/s - 20 m/s) / 1.4 s

a = (-12 m/s) / 1.4 s

a = -8.57 m/s²

The negative sign indicates that the acceleration is in the opposite direction of the initial velocity, which means the car is decelerating. Therefore, the couple's acceleration is -8.57 m/s².