High School

A car is traveling at 50.0 m/h. The brakes are applied, and the car stops over a distance of 19.4 km. What was the car's acceleration while it was braking? Write the acceleration in m/h².

Answer :

The car's acceleration while braking was approximately -0.0644 m/h². This was determined using the kinematic equation v² = u² + 2as and solving for acceleration.

The distance traveled was converted to meters to apply the formula correctly. To find the acceleration of the car, we can use the kinematic equation:

v² = u² + 2as

where:

  • v is the final velocity (0 m/h, as the car stops)
  • u is the initial velocity (50.0 m/h)
  • a is the acceleration
  • s is the distance (19.4 km; converted to meters: 19,400 m)

Rearranging the equation to solve for acceleration, a:

a = (v² - u²) / (2s)

Substituting in the values:

a = (0² - (50.0)²) / (2 × 19,400)

a = -2500 / 38,800

a ≈ -0.0644 m/h²

This means the car's acceleration while braking was approximately -0.0644 m/h².