Find the acceleration of the train, in m/s^2

Question

You are stuck at a railroad crossing with nothing to do but watch the train cars roll by. You notice that one car takes 3.67 seconds to pass you, but the next car takes 3.27 seconds to pass you. Each train car is 22.0 m long. Find the acceleration of the train, in m/s². 

Equations:

0= V1 + at

x2=v1t +1/2 at^2

Answer 1

Dear Maleeha,

to find the acceleration we can calculate the change in velocity divided by the change in time.

Since each car is 22 m long, the average velocity when the first cart passes by is

v₁ = Δx/Δt = 22/3.67 = 5.99455 m/s

The velocity of the second car is

v₂ = Δx/Δt = 22/3.27 = 6.72783 m/s

The acceleration is given by the formula v = v₀ + a t

a = (v - v₀) / t = (6.72783 - 5.99455) / 3.27 = 0.224244 m/s²

^{Let me know if you have any more questions}