If two cars are moving, labelled car A and car B. Car A moves at 15 m/s and B at 10 m/s but car B also accelerated at 2 m/s/s. If the two both travel for ten seconds, which car will travel further?

Well for this question we can use the SUVAT equations. We'll see what values we have and what we're looking for.

So firstly we have the initial speed, often denoted usign the letter u. I'm going to write Au to mean the speed of car A.

Au=15 m/s

Bu=10 m/s

Now we also have the accelration, denoted by a. Car A doesn't change speed so its accelration is zero. Car B acceraltes by 2 m/s/s, so for every second that passes its speed increases by 2 m/s.

Aa=0

Ba=2

We also have the time taken, denoted by t. Both cars move for ten seconds so.

At=10

Bt=10

We're trying to find how far each one goes, this is denoted with the letter s.

As=?

Bs=?

With what we have we should use the SUVAT equation: s=ut+1/2at.

This equation uses the inital speed and the acceleration to find out how far an object has moved. Lets work it out for car A.

As=15 * 10+1/2 * 0 *10

As=15 * 10 = 150 m

Now for car B.

Bs=10*10 + 1/2 * 2 * 10

Bs= 100 + 10

Bs=110 m

So car A moves 150 m and car B moves 110 m, so car A moves further. 

TW
Answered by Tom W. Physics tutor

6427 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

A projectile is launched with a speed of 10m/s at an angle 30 degrees from the positive x axis. What is the range of the projectile?


An ice cube with a small iron ball in its centre is placed in a cup of water. 3.9 x 10-3kg of water in the cup is displaced and the volume of the ice cube is 4.0 x 10-6m3. Ice density: 1000 kg m-3 Iron density: 7800 kg m-3, what is the volume of the iron?


What is an ohmic resistor? How to check if a resistor is ohmic?


What is the escape velocity of an object leaving a planet mass M, radius R?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences