Am I correct in my assumptions?

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The discussion centers on analyzing traffic flow in a blocked section of road, focusing on the assumptions made about car lengths, spacing, and speeds. The user proposes a formula for the number of cars in the blocked section over time, based on the flow rates of cars entering and exiting. There is some confusion regarding the equation de/dt = do/dt - di/dt, with suggestions that it may not apply due to differing distances between fast and slow cars. A modified equation is proposed, incorporating average distances between fast and slow cars for better accuracy. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the need for careful consideration of the variables involved in traffic flow analysis.
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assume there's a road

the cars have length of "d" m, and space btw them is "k", and are moving at "di/dt"

and at some time, ahead of them is blocked trafic, and in there the cars moving @ "do/dt"

and so i am analyzing portion of the road that has blocked traffic, like how many cars in it @ given time (N(t) = # of cars in that portion of the road)

so here's what i did:

flow into my system = de/dt = do/dt-di/dt

and it takes t0(=k/(de/dt)) seconds for one more car to come in that my section of the road

and thus
N(t) = c + [t](1/t0) gives the # of cars in it at given time t where c is the intial number.
ignoring that floor ceiling function things..
so i was wondering if all my assumptions are correct?
 
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rootX said:
assume there's a road

the cars have length of "d" m, and space btw them is "k", and are moving at "di/dt"

and at some time, ahead of them is blocked trafic, and in there the cars moving @ "do/dt"

and so i am analyzing portion of the road that has blocked traffic, like how many cars in it @ given time (N(t) = # of cars in that portion of the road)

so here's what i did:

flow into my system = de/dt = do/dt-di/dt

and it takes t0(=k/(de/dt)) seconds for one more car to come in that my section of the road

and thus
N(t) = c + [t](1/t0) gives the # of cars in it at given time t where c is the intial number.
ignoring that floor ceiling function things..
so i was wondering if all my assumptions are correct?


I am not able to get that why have you taken de/dt=do/dt-di/dt. Your other assumption of the time taken for an another car to enter the system is correct(I hope so).
 
FedEx said:
I am not able to get that why have you taken de/dt=do/dt-di/dt. Your other assumption of the time taken for an another car to enter the system is correct(I hope so).

I found that in some other problems (involving some liquid entering into a container with di/dt and leaving at do/dt), and so net rate = di/dt-do/dt

but, I again worked on this problem, and found that it is incorrect to use in this problem because distance btw. fast cars != dist. btw. slow cars


Thanks though, I also think that the equation looks good enough(with few modifications):

N(t) = c + [t](di/dt)(1/k) - [t] (do/dt)(1/p)

where k is the average dist. btw fast cars, and p is avg dist. btw. slow cars
 
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