acceleration

Example 1: A car accelerates from rest to a speed of 36 km/h in 20 seconds. What is the acceleration of the car in m/s 2?
Solution: The initial velocity is 0 (from rest) and the final velocity is 36 km/h. Hence
36 km/h - 0
20 seconds
We now convert 36 km/h into m/s as follows 36 km/h = 36 * 1000 m / 3600 s = 10 m/s
Hence
10 m/s
average acceleration =
20 seconds
average acceleration =

36 km/h
20 seconds

= 0.5 m/s2

Example 2: A car slows down from a speed of 72 km/h to rest in 25 seconds. What is the acceleration of the car in m/s2?
Solution: The initial velocity is 72 km/h and the final velocity is 0 (rest). Hence
0-72 km/h
25 seconds
We now convert 72 km/h into m/s as follows 36 km/h = 72 * 1000 m / 3600 s = 20 m/s
average acceleration =

-72 km/h
25 seconds

Hence
average acceleration =

- 20 m/s
25 seconds

= -0.8 m/s2

Example 3: A plane has a take off speed of 300 km/h. What is the acceleration in m/s2 of the plane if the plane started from rest and
took 45 seconds to take off?
Solution: The initial velocity is 0 (from rest) and the final velocity is 300 km/h (take off). Hence
300 km/h - 0
45 seconds
We now convert 300 km/h into m/s as follows 300 km/h = 300 * 1000 m / 3600 s = 83.3 m/s
average acceleration =

300 km/h
45 seconds

Hence
average acceleration =

83.3 m/s
45 seconds

= 1.85 m/s2

Example 4: What acceleration is needed to accelerate a car from 36 km/h to 72 km/h in 25 seconds?
Solution: The initial velocity is 36 km/h and the final velocity is 72 km/h, hence
average acceleration =

72 km/h - 36 km/h
25 seconds

36 km/h
25 seconds

36 km/h = 36 * 1000 m / 3600 s = 10 m/s

10 m/s
= 0.4 m/s2
25 seconds
Example 5:Starting with a constant velocity of 50 km/h, a car accelerates for 32 seconds at an acceleration of 0.5 m/s2 . What is the
velocity of the car at the end of the period of 32 seconds of acceleration?
Solution: 50 km/h is the initial velocity; we are given the acceleration and we asked to find the final velocity.
V - 50 km/h
average acceleration =
0.5 m/s2 =
32 second
The above equation can be written as V - 50 km/h = 0.5 m/s2 * 32 s = 16 m/s convert 16 m/s into km/h
16 m/s = 16 m *
(1km/1000m) / (1s * 1h/3600 s) = 16 * 3600 / 1000 km/h = 57.6 km/h V = 57.6 km/h + 50 km/h = 107.6 km/h
average acceleration =

Example 6: How long does it take to accelerate a car from a speed of 50 km/h to a speed of 100 km/h at an acceleration of 1 m/s 2?
Solution: The initial velocity is 50 km/h and the final velocity is 100 km/h and we are given the acceleration
100 km/h - 50 km/h
average acceleration =
1 m/s2 =
t
The above equation gives the equation 1 m/s2 * t = 50 km/h 50 km/h = 50 km (1000 m / 1 km) / (1h * (3600 s / 1 h)) = 13.8 m/s
t = (13.8 m/s) / (1 m/s2) = 13.8 seconds

Example 7: Find the displacement of a car that is constantly accelerating at 165 m/s 2, east if
it has an initial velocity of 90.0 km/h, west and it accelerates for 0.0410 seconds.

Example 8:A dog traveling 4.75 m/s, south is at a point 76.4 m, north of a fire hydrant. At a point 16.9 m, south of the same
hydrant, the dog's velocity is 8.31 m/s, south. Assuming constant acceleration, how long did this take?

Example 9: A train slows down to 25 km/h, west after braking for 1035 m. Its acceleration
was measured to be 0.93 m/s2, east. Find its inital velocity in m/s.

Velocity
1) A person cycles twenty six kilometers in one hour and sixteen minutes.
The person ends the ride three point four kilometers south of the starting point.
a) What is the person's displacement?
b) What was the distance travelled?

2) If you drive with an average velocity of -72.8 km/h for 55 minutes to a position that is 28.5 km north of
Charlottetown, in what position did you start your drive? (north = +)

3.) Find the displacement for the following:

a) initial position +7, final position -5
b) An object starts 35.7 km east of the origin. It stops 4.6 km east of the origin.

4.) Using a point on the road as the reference point, a car is travelling south at 104 km/h The car is passed by a
truck going 118 km/h, north.
a) Using the car as the reference point, what is the truck's velocity?
b) Using the truck as the reference point, what is the car's velocity?

Potential energy
1)A 50 kilogram object is located 5 meters above the ground level. Find its potential energy.

m= 50 kg
g = 9.8 m/s2
h=5m

formula:
2) A 12 kg cat who is resting on a tree has a potential energy of 50 J. Calculate its position
(height) relative to the ground.
m= 50 kg
g = 9.8 m/s2

h=5m
In order to find h we must divide both sides of the equation by 117.6

50 J/117.6 = h

h = 0.43 m

3)A girl runs up a 5 meter high flight of stairs and she has 1000 J of potential
energy at the top. Calculate her mass.
(PE = 1000 J) (g = 9.8 m/s) (h = 5 m) formula:

Kinetic Energy

1)A 55 kg man runs at a speed of 4 m/s. Find his kinetic energy.

(m = 55 kg)(v = 4 m/s )formula:

2)A 300 kg car has a kinetic energy of 500 J. Find its speed.

m = 300 kg
KE = 500 J

In order to solve for the speed we need to take the square root of (3.3 m 2/s2)

3)An object is moving at a speed of 20 m/s and has a kinetic energy of 10,000 J.
What is the mass of the object?
v = 20 m/s
KE = 10,000 J

formula:
In order to find the mass we need to divide both parts of the equation by 7200.

Answer: The mass of an object is 50 kg.