A car of mass 760kg travel with a velocity of 14.0ms-1 . If the brakes are applied , the car travels a distance of 55.0m before coming to rest . Calculate the retarding force on the car .

3 answers

We can use the formula:

retarding force = (mass × change in velocity) ÷ time

We need to first find the time it took for the car to come to rest, which can be found using the equation:

final velocity = initial velocity + (acceleration × time)

Since the final velocity is 0 m/s (it's come to rest), we can rearrange the equation to solve for time:

time = (final velocity - initial velocity) ÷ acceleration

Since the car is braking, the acceleration is negative, so:

time = (0 - 14.0) ÷ (-a)

where a is the acceleration.

We can use the distance formula:

distance = (initial velocity × time) + (0.5 × acceleration × time²)

Since we know the distance (55.0 m) and the initial velocity (14.0 m/s), we can solve for the acceleration:

55.0 = (14.0 × t) + (0.5 × a × t²)

Using the formula for time we found earlier, we can substitute and solve for a:

55.0 = (14.0 × [(0 - 14.0) ÷ (-a)]) + (0.5 × a × [(0 - 14.0) ÷ (-a)]²)

Simplifying:

55.0 = (14.0 × (14.0 ÷ a)) + (0.5 × a × (14.0 ÷ a)²)

Multiplying through by a²:

55.0a² = (14.0 × a × 14.0) + (0.5 × a × 14.0²)

Simplifying further:

55.0a² = 196a + 98a

55.0a² = 294a

Dividing through by a:

55.0a = 294

a = 5.345 m/s²

Now that we have the acceleration, we can use the first formula to find the retarding force:

retarding force = (mass × change in velocity) ÷ time

The change in velocity is just the initial velocity (14.0 m/s), since the car comes to rest.

The time is the time it took for the car to come to rest, which we found earlier:

time = (0 - 14.0) ÷ (-a) = 2.616 s

Substituting:

retarding force = (760 × 14.0) ÷ 2.616

retarding force = 4051.72 N

Therefore, the retarding force on the car is 4051.72 N.
A baby girl of mass 10kg runs at a speed of 2.0ms-1 . If her acceleration is 0.5ms-1 , calculate (i) the force on her
( ii) the time taken by her to cover a distance of 50m .
(i) The force on the baby girl can be calculated using the formula:

force = mass × acceleration

Substituting the given values:

force = 10 kg × 0.5 ms^-1

force = 5 N

Therefore, the force on the baby girl is 5 N.

(ii) We can use the formula:

distance = (initial velocity × time) + (0.5 × acceleration × time²)

to find the time taken by the baby girl to cover a distance of 50 m.

Since the baby girl is running at a constant acceleration, we can assume the acceleration is the same throughout the 50 m distance.

Substituting the given values:

50 = (2.0 × t) + (0.5 × 0.5 × t²)

Simplifying:

50 = 2t + 0.25t²

Multiplying through by 4:

200 = 8t + t²

Rearranging:

t² + 8t - 200 = 0

We can solve this quadratic equation using the quadratic formula:

t = (-b ± √(b² - 4ac)) ÷ 2a

where a = 1, b = 8, and c = -200

Substituting:

t = (-8 ± √(8² - 4 × 1 × -200)) ÷ 2 × 1

t = (-8 ± √(864)) ÷ 2

Taking only the positive root (since time cannot be negative):

t = (-8 + √864) ÷ 2

t = 7.37 s (rounded to two decimal places)

Therefore, the time taken by the baby girl to cover a distance of 50 m is 7.37 s.