Can She Make It Through the Intersection Before the Light Turns Red?

AI Thread Summary
A driver approaching a yellow light at 47 km/h is 30 m from the intersection, which is 15 m wide, and the yellow light lasts 2 seconds. If she brakes with a maximum deceleration of -6.2 m/s², calculations are needed to determine how far she will travel before stopping. Alternatively, if she accelerates to 70 km/h within 6.9 seconds, it’s essential to calculate the distance covered before the light turns red. The discussion focuses on the physics of motion, specifically deceleration and acceleration, to assess her options. Understanding these dynamics will help determine whether she can safely make it through the intersection.
stephidjadi
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
A person driving her car at 47 km/h approaches an intersection just as the traffic light turns yellow. She knows that the yellow light lasts only 2.0 s before turning to red, and she is 30 m away from the near side of the intersection (Fig. 2-29). The intersection is 15 m wide. Her car's maximum deceleration is -6.2 m/s2, whereas it can accelerate from 47 km/h to 70 km/h in 6.9 s. Ignore the length of her car and her reaction time.

a.If she hits the brakes, how far will she travel before stopping?

b. If she hits the gas instead, how far will she travel before the light turns red?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
stephidjadi said:
A person driving her car at 47 km/h approaches an intersection just as the traffic light turns yellow. She knows that the yellow light lasts only 2.0 s before turning to red, and she is 30 m away from the near side of the intersection (Fig. 2-29). The intersection is 15 m wide. Her car's maximum deceleration is -6.2 m/s2, whereas it can accelerate from 47 km/h to 70 km/h in 6.9 s. Ignore the length of her car and her reaction time.

a.If she hits the brakes, how far will she travel before stopping?

b. If she hits the gas instead, how far will she travel before the light turns red?

Welcome to PF.

How would you start to solve the problem?
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top