- #1
jcsp101
Problem:
To demonstrate the tremendous acceleration of a top fuel drag racer, you attempt to run your car into the back of a dragster that is "burning out" at the red light before the start of a race. (Burning out means spinning the tires at high speed to heat the tread and make the rubber sticky.)
You drive at a constant speed of v_0 toward the stopped dragster, not slowing down in the face of the imminent collision. The dragster driver sees you coming but waits until the last instant to put down the hammer, accelerating from the starting line at constant acceleration, a. Let the time at which the dragster starts to accelerate be t=0.
Question 1:
What is t_max, the longest time after the dragster begins to accelerate that you can possibly run into the back of the dragster if you continue at your initial velocity?
My Question:
What does the problem mean by t_max?
is it like the time when the drag racer and car touch, or when they both reach their max velocity, or what?
To demonstrate the tremendous acceleration of a top fuel drag racer, you attempt to run your car into the back of a dragster that is "burning out" at the red light before the start of a race. (Burning out means spinning the tires at high speed to heat the tread and make the rubber sticky.)
You drive at a constant speed of v_0 toward the stopped dragster, not slowing down in the face of the imminent collision. The dragster driver sees you coming but waits until the last instant to put down the hammer, accelerating from the starting line at constant acceleration, a. Let the time at which the dragster starts to accelerate be t=0.
Question 1:
What is t_max, the longest time after the dragster begins to accelerate that you can possibly run into the back of the dragster if you continue at your initial velocity?
My Question:
What does the problem mean by t_max?
is it like the time when the drag racer and car touch, or when they both reach their max velocity, or what?