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A car is driving at a constant speed of 10 m/s for 5 seconds. Then the driver slows to a stop by braking with an acceleration of 2 m/s2. How far does the car travel from the beginning of the problem?

User Imrhung
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The car travels a distance of 75 meters from the beginning of the problem. During the constant speed phase, the car travels 50 meters. During the deceleration phase, the car travels 25 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

The car travels a distance of 75 meters from the beginning of the problem. To calculate the distance, we need to find the distance traveled during the constant speed phase and the distance traveled during the deceleration phase.

During the first 5 seconds, the car travels a distance of 10 m/s * 5 s = 50 meters. This is the distance traveled during constant speed.

During the deceleration phase, the car starts from a speed of 10 m/s and comes to a stop in 5 seconds with an acceleration of -2 m/s². Using the equation v² = u² + 2as, where v is final velocity, u is initial velocity, a is acceleration, and s is distance, we can calculate the distance as follows:

0 = (10 m/s)² + 2 * (-2 m/s²) * s

0 = 100 m²/s² - 4 m/s² * s

4 m/s² * s = 100 m²/s²

s = 100 m²/s² / 4 m/s²

s = 25 meters

Therefore, the total distance traveled by the car is 50 meters (during constant speed) + 25 meters (during deceleration) = 75 meters.

User CptAJ
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