Train Collision Calculation: Red Train vs Green Train on 950 km Track"

[brendan3eb]

Homework Statement

A red train traveling at 72 km/h and a green train traveling at 144 km/h are headed toward one another along a straight, level track. When they are 950 km apart, each engineer sees the other's train and applies the brakes. The brakes decelerate each train at the rate of 1.0 m/s^2. Is there a collision? If so, what is the speed of each train at impact? If not, what is the separation between the trains when they stop?

Homework Equations

x=x0 + v0T + (1/2)(x - x0)

The Attempt at a Solution

I tried using the above equation, but I could not get a reasonable answer. I changed everything to meters and seconds. Here are the changes for those units:

95 km = 950,000 m
221 km/h = 61.39 m/s

 

[xRadio]

Just split it into two equations, and find the distance it takes to stop each one.