Question

A motorcycle has an initial speed of 5 m/s; at 4 seconds its speed is 9 m/s

a) Calculate the average acceleration.
b) Calculate the distance traveled in that time.

Answer 1

a) To calculate the average acceleration, simply apply the acceleration formula explained above. In such a way that we will have:

`\boldsymbol{a=(V_(f)-V_(o ))/(t)=(9 \ m/s-5 \ m/s)/(9 \ s)=1 \ m/s^(2) }`

Now let's move on to calculating the distance traveled, remember that here there is an initial speed, so we must be careful when choosing our formula.

b) Applying the correct formula:

`\boldsymbol{d=V_(o)t+(at^(2) )/(2 ) }`

Substituting our data into the formula:

`\boldsymbol{d=V_ot+(at^(2) )/(2)=\left(5 \ \frac{m}{\\ot{s}}\right)(4 \\ot{s})+\frac{\left(1 \ \frac{m}{\\ot{\\ot{s^(2)} }}(4\\ot{s})^(2) }{2 }=20 \ m+(16 \ m)/(2)=28m}`

So we will have 28 meters traveled