Given:
The distance covered by the truck is: x = 40 m
The time taken to cover the distance of 40 m is: t = 9.35 s
The final velocity of the truck is: v = 1.25 m/s
To find:
a) Truck's original velocity (initial velocity)
b) The acceleration of the truck
Step-by-step explanation:
a)
The initial velocity "u" of the truck can be determined by using the following equation:

Substituting the values in the above equation, we get:

The original speed of the truck is 7.3 m/s.
b)
The acceleration "a" of the truck can be calculated as:

The acceleration of the truck is -0.65 m/s^2. The negative sign in the acceleration indicates that the truck is slowing down.
Final answer:
a) The original speed of the truck is 7.3 m/s.
b) The acceleration of the truck is -6.5 m/s^2.