Unit 3

Unit 3- Example Problems

Speeder and Patrolman A speeder driving down the road at a constant 20 m/s passes a patrolman parked on the road side. The patrolman takes 3s to get started, then pursues the speeder- accelerating at 4.0 m/s^2. When and where does the patrolman catch up to the speeder?
Car passing train A train is traveling at a constant 26 m/s. The train is 60 m long. A car traveling 39 m/s on a road parallel to the tracks reaches the back of the train and begins to accelerate at 5 m/s^2. What is the speed of the car just as it passes the front of the train?

We could have solved for "t" and substituted into the other equation-- this would have saved us from having to plug the time back into to find v_{f. Also we can use the "Solver" on the calculator to help us do the math (and avoid having to use the quadratic equation).}