A cheetah is hunting. Its prey runs for 3.21 s at a constant velocity of +8.36 m/s. Starting from rest, what constant acceleration must the cheetah maintain in order to run the same distance as its prey runs in the same time?

Answer 1

The cheetah must have the same average velocity during the interval. Since it accelerates uniformly from zero, its maximum velocity must be twice the average, or 16.72 m/s. The acceleration rate is
(16.72 m/s)/(3.21 s) = ___ m/s^2