For a car with a mass of 1200kg, how long will it take for it to accelerate to 25m/s, starting from rest, with a total driving force of 1,500N?

This can be solved in 2 main sections: the first to find the acceleration of the car, and then the second to find how long it spends accelerating. To find the acceleration, Newton's 2nd Law (F=ma) can be used by first dividing each side by the mass to give us an equation for acceleration, a=F/m a=F/m  = 1500/1200 = 1.25 m/s^2 From this, the time can be found using the equation of motion: t = (v-u) / a ( v = final velocity (25 m/s), u = initial velocity (which we know to be 0m/s as the car starts from rest)) so t = (25 - 0) / 1.25   t = 20s It therefore takes 20 seconds for the car to reach 25 m/s.

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Answered by Christopher S. Physics tutor

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