Question

A car traveling at 10 m/s starts to decelerate steadily. It comes to a complete stop in 20 seconds. What is the acceleration?

Answer 1

`a= 0.5 m/s^(2)`

Step-by-step explanation:

Your initial velocity (
`V_(o)`) is 10 m/s, your time is 20 seconds. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the problem, since you know the car comes to a stop, your final velocity (
`V_(f)`) is 0 m/s.

The equation you can use to solve for acceleration (a) is
`V_(f) = V_(o) +at`

1. Plug in the numbers you do have, so your equation will look like this:

0=10+a(20)

2. Solve for a.

-10= 20a

-10/20=a

-0.5= a

a = -0.5
`m/s^(2)`