Kinematics problem (one dimension)

AI Thread Summary
A tenth-grade physics student is seeking help with a kinematics problem involving two trains traveling towards each other on a straight track. The trains begin braking when they are 800 meters apart, and the student needs to determine if they collide and, if so, when that occurs. The discussion includes a request for assistance in drawing a displacement-time graph for both trains and clarification on some details regarding the graphs provided. Additionally, there are concerns about the accuracy of the calculations and the scale of the graphs. The student is looking for guidance to solve the problem effectively.
Omri
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Hello,

I am a tenth-grader physics student, and I have a mechanics-realted problem you may think is quite trivial, but I have been unsuccessfully trying to solve it for a whole day, so I would thank you if you answered.
Please consider the attached graph; the question relates to it:
Two trains, a red one and a yellow one, travel towards each other on a straight railway-track. When the distance between them is 800 m, the drivers notice the danger and hit the brakes simultaneously. The graph shows their velocity in respect to time from the moment of hitting the brakes, if each train had traveled alone.
(Here there are a couple of pretty eaay questions; I'm skipping right to the problem.)
Did the trains collide into each other? If they did – when did it happen? And if the didn't – what was the distance between them when they stopped?
The other attached image shows my feeble attempts to solve this question.
The last thing I should do about these trains is draw (on the same coordinate system) a schematic displacement-time graph for both trains from t=0 to the moment of stopping/collision.

Thanks for your help!

Attachments:
Image 1 (the calculations) - http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/2295/trains1dy3.jpg
Image 2 (the graph) - http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/200/trains2ab7.jpg

P.S: I just noticed a couple of small alignment problems in Image 1. I'm sorry about them, I think my OpenOffice needs a bit of configuration.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
You're in tenth grade, so I assume you haven't learned calculus yet?

Also, my computer seems to have cut off the bottom of the graph. Does the red function start at -30?
And what's the scale of the x-axis? How many seconds is each line?
 
You got the deceleration of the yellow train wrong. It equals 45/30 = 1.5 [m/s^2].
 
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 'Collision of a bullet on a rod-string system: query'
In this question, I have a question. I am NOT trying to solve it, but it is just a conceptual question. Consider the point on the rod, which connects the string and the rod. My question: just before and after the collision, is ANGULAR momentum CONSERVED about this point? Lets call the point which connects the string and rod as P. Why am I asking this? : it is clear from the scenario that the point of concern, which connects the string and the rod, moves in a circular path due to the string...
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