A motorist drives along a straight road at a constant speed of 15.0 m/s. just as she passes a parked police officer,the officer starts to accelerate at 2.00 m/s^2 to overtake her. assuming the officer maintains this acceleration, a) determine the time it takes the police officer to reach the motorist. find b) the speed and c) the total displacement of the officer as he overtakes the motorist.

3 answers

Let V = motorist speed
a = officer acceleration
a) V*t = (1/2)a t^2
Solve for t when they are at same place
b) a*t = cop speed at time t
c) (1/2) at^2 = cop displacement at time t

= (1/2)(2V/a)^2*a = 2 V^2/a
A. 15
B. 30
C. 225
physics