- #1
Nirupt
- 35
- 0
Homework Statement
Cletus is traveling at 30.0 m/s as he passes a trooper hidden behind a billboard. Four seconds later, the trooper begins his chase for Cletus with a constant acceleration of 2.00 m/s2. How long does it take the trooper to intercept Cletus?
Homework Equations
x = vAVG.t = (v 0 + v)/2*t {Acceleration-Not-Known, or ank}
v =v0 +at {Displacement-Not-Known, or xnk}
v 2 = v0 2 + 2ax {Time - Not - Known, or tnk}
x =v0t + ½*at 2 {Final Velocity - Not - Known, or vnk}
The Attempt at a Solution
I'm kind of stuck..
I know that d1 = d2 because they will eventually meet. I know that the first part the velocity is constant at 30 m/s so acceleration is 0. The trooper has an initial velocity of 0 until the 4 second mark which the acceleration is 2 m/s^2, so 1) since the equation starts at 4 seconds would the initial velocity not be 0? and is t(4) really time = 0? in which case I am finding time, and I know I have to set up the 2 cars set equal to each other, and the Δχ displacement is not known but it is known that they will eventually meet at the same point.
Just want to know if my thought process is correct or am I digging myself in a hole. I doubt this is a hard problem