Relative Motion - Two Accelerating Cars · PhysicsBowl 2015 #9

Physics · mechanics

Problem

Two cars are moving to the right on a horizontal track, each with constant acceleration. At an instant of time, the information about the cars is shown: Car #1: position = 125.0

m

; velocity = 13.0

\frac{m}{s}

; constant acceleration = 1.5

\frac{m}{s^2}

Car #2: position = 80.0

m

; velocity = 9.30

\frac{m}{s}

; constant acceleration = 5.5

\frac{m}{s^2}

During the next 1.0

s

of motion, which one of the following choices best represents what happens to the distance between the cars? (A) It decreases during the entire 1.0 second of motion. (B) It increases during the entire 1.0 second of motion. (C) It initially increases and then decreases resulting in a greater distance between the cars after 1.0 second. (D) It initially increases and then decreases resulting in a smaller distance between the cars after 1.0 second. (E) It initially increases and then decreases resulting in the same distance between the cars after 1.0 second.

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