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

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a scenario where a police car attempts to catch a speeder. The speeder is traveling at a constant speed of 38.0 m/s, while the police car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 2.29 m/s². The questions posed focus on determining the time it takes for the police car to overtake the speeder and the distance covered by the speeder during this time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the necessary conditions for the police car to overtake the speeder, including the need for the displacements of both vehicles to be equal. There are inquiries about the relevant equations of motion for both the police car and the speeder.

Discussion Status

Some participants express confusion regarding the formulas needed for solving the problem, while others suggest starting with the police car's acceleration to reach the speeder's speed. There is an indication of multiple interpretations being explored, particularly concerning the time variables involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference the need for specific equations related to displacement and velocity, indicating a potential gap in the information provided. The discussion also hints at the importance of understanding the relationship between the two vehicles' motions.

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Hey. I need help on this question. A walkthrough would be great. Thanks in advance!
A speeder passes a parked police car at 38.0 m/s. The police car starts from rest with a uniform acceleration of 2.29 m/s^2.
a) How much time passes before the speeder is overtaken by policeman? b) How far does the speeder get before being overtaken by the police car?
 
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AladdinSane said:
Hey. I need help on this question. A walkthrough would be great. Thanks in advance!
A speeder passes a parked police car at 38.0 m/s. The police car starts from rest with a uniform acceleration of 2.29 m/s^2.
a) How much time passes before the speeder is overtaken by policeman? b) How far does the speeder get before being overtaken by the police car?

In order to overtake the speeder, to which displacement must the displacement of the police car be equal to? Which are the equations of diaplacement for the police car, and which ones are for the speeder?
 
confused... to which formulas are you referring, radou?
if anyone else has any input, please help...THANK YOU!
 
AladdinSane said:
confused... to which formulas are you referring, radou?
if anyone else has any input, please help...THANK YOU!

You can find the basic acceleration/velocity equations here.

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~vawter/PhysicsNet/Topics/Kinematics/SolvingSuggestion.html

Hint: start out by figuring out how long it will take the accelerating police car to achieve the same velocity (38ms) as the speeding car. Use this as T1. There will be a T2, it will be the time it takes the police car to travel the remaining distance to the speeder.
 
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