Question

A person is throwing a potato forward out of a car window at 5 m/s. The car is traveling forward at a rate of 20 m/s. If a motionless person observes the person throwing the potatoes out of the car window, how fast would the motionless person observe the potatoes being thrown?

(a) 25 m/s
(b) 15 m/s
(c) 5 m/s
(d) 20 m/s

Answer 1

The motionless person would observe the potatoes being thrown at 25 m/s because the observed velocity is the sum of the car's velocity and the potato's throwing velocity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves the relative velocity of objects in motion, which pertains to the physics concept of adding velocities in the same direction. When a potato is thrown forward from a car, the final velocity of the potato as observed by a motionless observer is the sum of the velocity of the car and the velocity at which the potato is thrown. In this case, the car's velocity is 20 m/s, and the velocity of the person throwing the potato is 5 m/s, both in the same direction. Therefore, the observed velocity of the potato would be:

Observed velocity = Velocity of car + Velocity of potato with respect to car

Observed velocity = 20 m/s + 5 m/s

Observed velocity = 25 m/s

Thus, the motionless person would observe the potatoes being thrown at 25 m/s, making option (a) the correct answer.