Question

A car is parked on a steep incline, making an angle of 37.0 below the horizontal and overlooking the ocean, when its brakes fail and it begins to roll. Starting from rest at t=0, the car rolls down the incline with a constant acceleration of 3.64 m/s², traveling 48.7 m to the edge of a vertical cliff. The cliff is 30.0 m above the ocean.

(a) Find the speed of the car when it reaches the edge of the cliff.

Answer 1

The speed of the car when it reaches the edge of the cliff is 18.83 m/s.

How to calculate the speed of the car?

The speed of the car when it reaches the edge of the cliff is calculated by applying the following formula.

The speed of the car when it reaches the edge of the cliff is the final velocity.

v² = u² + 2as

where;

• u is the initial velocity of the car
• v is the final velocity of the car
• a is the acceleration of the car
• s is the distance traveled by the car

The final velocity of the car is calculated as follows;

v² = u² + 2as

v² = 0 + 2(3.64)(48.7)

v² = 354.536

v = √ (354.536)

v = 18.83 m/s