Final answer:
To find the distance skidded, conservation of energy is used, equating the initial kinetic energy to the work done by friction. This requires the vehicle's initial speed, mass, and the frictional force.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking how far they would skid before stopping if the kinetic friction force between their tires and the road is 1.3×10⁴ N. This problem can be solved using the principles of conservation of energy, specifically the work-energy theorem, which states that the work done by non-conservative forces (like friction) is equal to the change in kinetic energy of the moving object.
To solve this problem, one must consider the initial kinetic energy of the moving vehicle and equate it to the work done by the friction force over the distance the car skids before stopping. The equation to use is Wnc = -fd, where Wnc is the work done by non-conservative forces, f is the frictional force, and d is the skidding distance. Since the final kinetic energy is zero (because the car comes to a stop), all the initial kinetic energy is turned into other forms of energy, such as heat, as a result of the work done by friction.