Finding acceleration from position data with no knowledge of integrals?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a physics problem where a car accelerates with a given formula, and the goal is to determine its acceleration at a specific time. The initial poster expresses difficulty with integration, which is necessary to solve the problem. They propose integrating the acceleration equation to find the position and then substituting back to find acceleration at t=4 seconds. Another participant points out that the question has been posted multiple times across different forums, leading to frustration among users who feel their responses are wasted. Despite the criticism, there is a sense of understanding towards the original poster's inexperience with forum etiquette. The original poster acknowledges their mistake and expresses gratitude for the assistance received.
jjiimmyy101
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Problem: A car starts from rest and moves along a straight line with an acceleration of a=(3s^-1/3)m/sec^2, where s is in metres. Determine the car's acceleration when t=4sec. ANS: 1.06 m/sec^2

Alright...I know nothing about integrals...really, nothing. I was never taught anything about integrals even though I've taken calculus courses before.

Here's what I think I should do.

Take the equation a = d^2s/dt^2 and INTEGRATE it to find the position (s) and substitute it back into the equation. But how do you do this.
 
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This is a challenging problem for someone who knows nothing about integration. Anyway, you cannot directly integrate your equation. A trick is to first use

a={d^2s\over dt^2}={d\over dt}{ds\over dt}={ds\over dt}{d\over ds}{ds\over dt}=v {dv\over ds}

Now you have

3s^{-1/3}\,ds=v\,dv

which can be integrated. Once you have v as a function of s, you can integrate again to get s as a function of t. Then plug the s at 4 sec. back into the formula for a.
 
Originally posted by jjiimmyy101
Problem: A car starts from rest and moves along a straight line with an acceleration of a=(3s^-1/3)m/sec^2, where s is in metres. Determine the car's acceleration when t=4sec. ANS: 1.06 m/sec^2

Alright...I know nothing about integrals...really, nothing. I was never taught anything about integrals even though I've taken calculus courses before.

Here's what I think I should do.

Take the equation a = d^2s/dt^2 and INTEGRATE it to find the position (s) and substitute it back into the equation. But how do you do this.

In how many forums u have posted this Que it is already in Maths And Homework Section And in fact Krab and everyone(includin me- in General Maths forum) will give u same solution unless a Genius finds other way to do

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12588
 


Originally posted by himanshu121
In how many forums u have posted this Que it is already in Maths And Homework Section And in fact Krab and everyone(includin me- in General Maths forum) will give u same solution unless a Genius finds other way to do

I agree. I like to help out, but you've posted to 4 separate forums and so my reply was a waste of time on my part. So welcome to my Ignore list.
 
Hey Guys,

I think I've been wasting my time too.
But, let's not be too harsh on ol' jimmy. He's only posted a couple of times and might not have appreciated why double-posting is such a pain in the XXX.

Hopefully, he does now.
Paul.
 
Sorry

I really appreciate all the help. I'm new to forum etiquette and I apologize for wasting your time. I will, in the future (hopefully I won't need anymore help, but I doubt that that will happen) not post a message numerous times like I did last time.

Once again, sorry for being a dunce. Thanks.
 
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