Two cars: a problem in rectilinear kinematics
Post date: Jan 27, 2014 7:59:41 AM
Cars A and B travel along the same straight road in the following manner: Car A is located at position s = 2.4 mi at clock reading t = 0.00 h and maintains a constant speed of 36.0 mi/h. Car B is located at s = 0.0 mi at clock reading t = 0.50 h and maintains a constant speed of 50.0 mi/h.
1. At what clock reading will car B overtake and pass A?
2. At what position will the passing take place?
3. How long a time after being at s = 0.0 will B overtake A?
4. At the instant of being passed, how far will A have traveled from the position occupied at t = 0.00?
The above problem is found in: Arnold B. Arons, Teaching Introductory Physics (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, 1997)
Below is the position vs. time graph of the the two cars obtained from my calculations.