Calculating Acceleration and Time for a Freight Train to Reach 83.4 km/hr

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the time required for a freight train with a mass of 1.20E+7 kg to accelerate from rest to a speed of 83.4 km/hr, given a constant pulling force of 6.10E+5 N. The correct acceleration is determined using Newton's second law (F=ma), yielding an acceleration of 0.050833 m/s². After converting the final speed from km/hr to m/s, the time to reach this speed is calculated to be approximately 455.6 seconds using the equation v = u + at.

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Lilly
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Force and Motion...

hi
could someone please tell me where i am going wrong with this question:
A freight train has a mass of 1.20E+7 kg. If the locomotive can exert a constant pull of 6.10E+5 N, how long does it take to increase the speed of the train from rest to 83.4 km/hr?
i tried to find accelertion by using F=ma, and i keep getting 0.05833...then i put it into the equation v=vo+at, but my answers never turn out right. i think maybe unit conversion is where I'm going wrong...but I'm not sure.
help would be appreciated...
thanks, lilly
 
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Lilly said:
i tried to find accelertion by using F=ma, and i keep getting 0.05833...
Right method. I assume that's a typo, since I get 0.050833 m/s^2.
then i put it into the equation v=vo+at, but my answers never turn out right. i think maybe unit conversion is where I'm going wrong...but I'm not sure.
Sounds good to me. If you aren't sure of your conversion, show how you did it.
 
I think this would help

My Acceleration is 0.0508333
83.4 KM/Hr = 83.4 * 5/18 m/sec = 23.16 m/sec which is the final velocity.
So according to the formula you used, u = uo + at my value for t turns out to be 23.16/0.0508333 = 455.6 seconds.
 

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