Solving the Unstoppable Coyote's Speed Challenge

[bkoz316]

Constant Speed?

The determined Wile E. Coyote is out once more to try to capture the elusive Road Runner. The coyote wears a pair of acme power roller skates, which provide a constant horizontal accleration of 15 m/s^2. The coyote starts off at rest 70m from the edge of a cliff at the instant the roadrunner zips by in the direction of the cliff.

(a) If the road runner moves with a constant speed, find the maximum speed the road runner must have in order to reach the cliff before the coyote.

(b) If the cliff is 100m above the base of the canyon, find where the coyote lands in the canyon. (Assume that his skates are still in operation when he is in flight and that his horizontal component of acceleration remains constant at 15 m/s^2).





There were 10 parts to this problem and I am stuck on how to do these two.
Thanks soooooo much for the help!

 

[Yuravian]

The determined Wile E. Coyote is out once more to try to capture the elusive Road Runner. The coyote wears a pair of acme power roller skates, which provide a constant horizontal accleration of 15 m/s^2. The coyote starts off at rest 70m from the edge of a cliff at the instant the roadrunner zips by in the direction of the cliff.

(a) If the road runner moves with a constant speed, find the maximum speed the road runner must have in order to reach the cliff before the coyote.

(b) If the cliff is 100m above the base of the canyon, find where the coyote lands in the canyon. (Assume that his skates are still in operation when he is in flight and that his horizontal component of acceleration remains constant at 15 m/s^2).





There were 10 parts to this problem and I am stuck on how to do these two.
Thanks soooooo much for the help!

For this type of problem, remember that 'constant speed' means a=0. So for part a, you want to find how long it takes Wile E. to get to the edge of the cliff, and then find a velocity for which the roadrunner will take the same time t to get to the edge as Wile E. Since anything faster than this means he arrives before Wile E., your answer would probably be 'greater than v meters/second'