Question

A bus travels 5 meters during the first second, 10 meters during the next second and 15

meters during the third second. What is the acceleration of the bus?
A) 10 m/s2
B) 5 m/s2
C) 15 m/s2
D) 0m/s2

Answer 1

The bus's acceleration is determined by the increase in distance travelled each second, which corresponds to a constant acceleration of 5 m/s². The answer is option B) 5 m/s².

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the acceleration of the bus, we can look at how the distance changes each second. The bus travels 5 meters in the first second, an additional 10 meters in the second, and an additional 15 meters in the third. This shows us that the distance the bus travels each second is increasing by 5 meters per second. We can represent this as a velocity increase of 5 meters per second each second, which is the definition of acceleration.

To calculate the acceleration formally, we can use the following relationship:

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

From second 1 to second 2, the bus increases its speed from 5 m/s to 10 m/s, giving us a change in velocity (Δv) of 5 m/s over a time (Δt) of 1 second. This results in an acceleration (a) of:

5 m/s / 1 s = 5 m/s2

The correct answer is B) 5 m/s2.