- #1
kbrowne29
- 12
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I'm a bit confused as to how to finish this problem:
At an accident scene on a level road, inestigators measure a car's skid marks to be 88 m long. It was a rainy day and the coefficient of friction was estimated to be .42. Use these data to determine the speed of the car when the driver slammed on (and locked) the brakes.
OK, here's what I can get. Using F=ma, I know the net force is equal to the force of friction minus the applied force. And so we get F(friction)-F(applied)=ma. We also know that F(friction)=
mu(kinetic)F(normal). And the normal force is equal to mg. And so the force of friction is mu(kinetic)mg. So, mu(kinetic)mg-force(applied)=ma. Now, the applied force can be rewritten as ma(applied). Now the mass can be canceled out of each term, and the result is: mu(kinetic)g-a(applied)=a. This is where I get stuck. I can't seem to figure out how to determine the applied acceleration. Once I get that, then using v(final)^2=v(initial)^2+2a(delta x), I can find the initial velocity. I would appreciate any help on this problem. Thanks.
At an accident scene on a level road, inestigators measure a car's skid marks to be 88 m long. It was a rainy day and the coefficient of friction was estimated to be .42. Use these data to determine the speed of the car when the driver slammed on (and locked) the brakes.
OK, here's what I can get. Using F=ma, I know the net force is equal to the force of friction minus the applied force. And so we get F(friction)-F(applied)=ma. We also know that F(friction)=
mu(kinetic)F(normal). And the normal force is equal to mg. And so the force of friction is mu(kinetic)mg. So, mu(kinetic)mg-force(applied)=ma. Now, the applied force can be rewritten as ma(applied). Now the mass can be canceled out of each term, and the result is: mu(kinetic)g-a(applied)=a. This is where I get stuck. I can't seem to figure out how to determine the applied acceleration. Once I get that, then using v(final)^2=v(initial)^2+2a(delta x), I can find the initial velocity. I would appreciate any help on this problem. Thanks.