How Long Does It Take for a Patrol Car to Catch a Speeder?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kinematics23
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Acceleration
AI Thread Summary
To determine how long it takes for a patrol car to catch a speeder traveling at 109 km/h, the patrol car accelerates from rest at 8 km/h/s until it reaches a maximum speed of 141 km/h. The problem requires solving in two parts: first, calculating the time and distance for the patrol car to accelerate to its top speed, and second, finding the time taken to catch the speeder at that constant speed. The initial attempt to solve for the total time resulted in an incorrect answer of 27.3 seconds. The equations for distance and acceleration need to be applied correctly to find the accurate time and distance for both vehicles. A systematic approach is essential for solving the problem correctly.
kinematics23
Messages
1
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


A speeder traveling at a constant speed of
109 km/h races past a billboard. A patrol car
pursues from rest with constant acceleration
of (8 km/h)/s until it reaches its maximum
speed of 141 km/h, which it maintains until it
catches up with the speeder.
How long does it take the patrol car to
catch the speeder if it starts moving just as
the speeder passes? Answer in units of s.

How far does each car travel? Answer in units
of km.


Homework Equations


Δx = vot + 1/2at^2
Δx = 1/2(vo + v)t

The Attempt at a Solution


This is an online assignment I am doing. I tried substituting values for the equations with the given info and tried to make it so the speeder equation and the car equation is the same so I can solve for the time and i got 27.3 but it came out wrong when I entered the question online. Since I cannot get the first part I can't get the second part either.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You need to split this into two parts. You need to find the time taken for the police car to accelerate to top speed and the distance the policeman and the criminal travel in that time, and then you need to find out how long it takes to catch him at the constant speed and add the two times together.
 
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