Question

If a student driver is taking a driver's training course and the car's mass doubles while skidding to a stop through a displacement, d, what is the car's skidding distance in terms of d? (Note: the initial velocity is conserved)

a) 2d
b) 4d
c) 0.5d
d) d

Answer 1

The skidding distance the car covers remains the same, d, even if its mass doubles because the stopping distance is determined by the car's initial kinetic energy, which is independent of mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question asks about the skidding distance a car covers when it comes to a stop if its mass doubles while retaining its initial velocity. Based on the principles of physics, particularly the conservation of energy and momentum, the skidding distance of the car would remain unaffected by the change in its mass. This is because the stopping distance is directly related to the initial kinetic energy of the car, and kinetic energy is independent of mass when considering friction as the only force doing work to stop the car. Thus, if the skidding distance was originally d, after the car's mass doubles, the distance will still be d.