physics question

Question

A Chevy truck with mass of 1850 kg is rolling along a level roadway at +0.620 m/s. A rope is attached to the rear of the truck and Benjamin applies 265 N of force to the rope to stop the truck from rolling.

If there is another truck, 2.0 m in front of the Chevy, will Ben be able to stop it in time?

Answer 1

Question: A Chevy truck with mass of 1850 kg is rolling along a level roadway at +0.620 m/s. A rope is attached to the rear of the truck and Benjamin applies 265 N of force to the rope to stop the truck from rolling.

If there is another truck, 2.0 m in front of the Chevy, will Ben be able to stop it in time?

Answer

2 step solution:

1) determine the acceleration resulting from the 265 Newton tension force applied to the truck: a = 265/1850 = 0.143 m/sec².

2) Use that acceleration in the expression for uniform acceleration using velocity and distance: V_f² = V_i² + 2ax and solve for x using the constant initial velocity of +0.620: V_f = 0, the desired outcome within 2 meters, so we set it up as follows: x = -0.620²/ (2*0.143) = 1.34 meters, so the answer is yes, the truck will stop 66 cm short of the 2nd truck 2 meters away.