In: Physics
Starting from rest, a truck travels in a straight line for 7.0 s with a uniform acceleration of +1.6 m/s2. The driver then applies the brakes for 3.0 s, causing a uniform acceleration of −2.0 m/s2 over that time. (a) What is the truck's speed at the end of the braking period? (b) What is the total distance traveled by the truck (from the point where it started at rest to the end of the braking period)
(a) The truck starts from rest. So the initial velocity of the truck is u = 0m/s. For t1 = 7s, the acceleration of the truck is a1 = 1.6m/s^2. So the velocity v' of the truck after 7s is given by,
Then for the braking period of t2 = 3s, the acceleration of the truck is a2 = -2m/s^2. So the velocity v at the ed of the braking period is,
So, truck's speed at the end of the braking period is 5.2m/s.
(b) The distance travelled by the truck during the first 7s is given by,
The distance travelled by the truck during the last 3s is given by,
So the total distance travelled is,
So the total distance traveled by the truck is 63.8m.