Interception of a poliece car with speeder from rest

  • Thread starter Thread starter lam4595
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Car Rest
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on a physics problem involving a speeding motorist traveling at 130 km/h and a police officer who begins pursuit with a constant acceleration of 9.3 km/h/s. Participants emphasize the importance of converting units to SI for clarity and accuracy in calculations. The key to solving the problem lies in applying kinematic equations to determine the time it takes for the officer to catch the motorist, assuming the motorist maintains a constant speed throughout the scenario.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of kinematic equations
  • Ability to convert units to SI (meters per second)
  • Knowledge of constant acceleration principles
  • Familiarity with basic algebra for solving equations
NEXT STEPS
  • Learn how to convert km/h to m/s for accurate calculations
  • Study the kinematic equation for uniformly accelerated motion
  • Practice solving problems involving relative motion and constant speed
  • Explore real-world applications of acceleration in law enforcement scenarios
USEFUL FOR

Students studying physics, educators teaching kinematics, and anyone interested in solving real-world motion problems involving acceleration and speed.

lam4595
Messages
1
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


a speeding motorist traveling at 130km/h passes a stationary police officer. the officer immeaditly begins pursuit at a constant acceleration of 9.3km/h/s (note the mixed units) how much time will it take for the police officer to catch the speeding motorist, assuming the motorist mations a constant speed?

hey guys I've really been stumped on this one for a while and would really apricate some help to get through it. thank a ton
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Hi lam4595, welcome to PF. Can you show what you've tried already?
 
You can assume that the police started at rest in this problem since it didn't say otherwise,so you need to convert units then use acceleration logic to see when he will catch him.

I like to transform in problems like this the units to SI units to get a better feel for the numbers,but its up to you to choose which unit u want to work with.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
8K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
4K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
5K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
3K