AP Physics: A sports car moving at constant velocity travels 120 m in 5.0 s. It then brakes and comes to a stop in 4.0 s. Questions in description

Question

a. How fast is the far moving during the first 5 s?

b. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of the car as it brakes and comes to a stop?

Answer 1

a. You are given distance and time, and velocity is the ratio of the two.

b. The car goes from a velocity of V₁ to velocity of V₂ in a given time. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, so, a = (V₁ - V₂) / (t₁ - t₂)

Note: This is a very simple question that for AP Physics should have been well demonstrated in the textbook. Reread the textbook and your class notes to see where this is explained.