In: Physics
Elena runs the 100m dash in 10.4s. If she does this by spending the first 3s of the race accelerating and then maintaining her top speed (constant velocity) for the rest of the race: What acceleration did she experience? What was her top speed?
We have,
Let top speed be
, initial speed
, and acceleration be
.
We have total distance , total time .
Let distance covered by Elena in of acceleration be .
Then distance covered at top speed .
Also, from the kinematics formula,
Because Elena starts running from rest, her initial speed
From the kinematics formula
Substituting value from equation (3) and (2) into equation (1):
Therefore, Elena's acceleration is .
Now substituting the value of acceleration into equation (2):
Therefore, Elena's velocity is .