elements of physics 101

Question

On aircraft carriers, catapults are used to accelerate jet aircraft to flight speeds in a short distance. One such catapult takes a 17,500-kg jet from 0 to 67 m/s in 2.9 s. (Assume the catapult acts in the positive horizontal direction. Indicate the direction with the sign of your answer where appropriate.) How far does the jet travel while it is accelerating?

Answer 1

Hello Heaven;

Thanks for this question as I really love Navy aircrafts.

First, we need to find the acceleration:

a = ΔV/Δt

a = +67 / 2.9 ~=

Then we use the kinematics formula with no explicit time;

V_f² = V_i² + 2ax

67² = 0 + (2 x (67/2.9) x distance)

4489 = (134/2.9) x distance

distance = 97.15m ~ 97.2m ∴

I hope I could be succesful in explaining this question.

Best regards

Bilal