10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

RearendingDragRacer

Todemonstratethetremendousaccelerationofatopfueldragracer,
youattempttorunyourcarintothebackofadragsterthatis"burning
out"attheredlightbeforethestartofarace.(Burningoutmeans
spinningthetiresathighspeedtoheatthetreadandmaketherubber
sticky.)

Youdriveataconstantspeedofv 0 towardthestoppeddragster,not
slowingdowninthefaceoftheimminentcollision.Thedragsterdriver
seesyoucomingbutwaitsuntilthelastinstanttoputdownthe
hammer,acceleratingfromthestartinglineatconstantacceleration,a.
Letthetimeatwhichthedragsterstartstoacceleratebet = 0 .

PartA
Whatistmax ,thelongesttimeafterthedragsterbeginstoacceleratethatyoucanpossiblyrunintothebackofthedragster
ifyoucontinueatyourinitialvelocity?

Hint1.Calculatethevelocity
Attmax ,whatwillthevelocityofthedragcarbe?
Youranswershouldnotcontaintmax ,asthattimeisnotyetknown.

Hint1.Considerthespeedofbothcars
Nocollisioncanoccurifthedragsterhasgreaterspeedthanthespeedofthecarbehindit.

ANSWER:

v d (t max ) = v0

ANSWER:

v0
t max = a

Correct

PartB
Assumingthatthedragsterhasstartedatthelastinstantpossible(soyourfrontbumperalmosthitstherearofthedragster
att =tmax ),findyourdistancefromthedragsterwhenhestarted.Ifyoucalculatepositionsonthewaytothissolution,

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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D
choosecoordinatessothatthepositionofthedragcaris0att = 0 .Rememberthatyouaresolvingforadistance(whichis
amagnitude,andcanneverbenegative),notaposition(whichcanbenegative).

Hint1.Dragcarpositionattimetmax
Takingx = 0 atthepositionofthedragsteratt = 0 ,findxd (tmax ) ,thepositionofthedragsterattmax .

Expressyouranswerintermsoftmax andgivenquantities.
ANSWER:

2
xd (t max ) = 1
atmax .
2

Hint2.Distancecartravelsuntiltmax
FindDcar ,thedistanceyoutravelfromt = 0 totmax .
ANSWER:

Dcar = v 0 t max

Hint3.Startingpositionofcar
ExpressDcar ,thedistancethecartravelsintermsofthestartingdistanceofthecarfromthestartinglineattime
t = 0 ,Dstart ,andthepositionofthedragcarattimet max ,xd (t max ) .NotethatDstart isadistanceandcan'tbe

negative.Thisshouldaffectyouruseofsigns.

Expressyouranswerintermsoftmax ,xd (tmax ) ,andDstart .

ANSWER:

Dcar = xd (t max ) + Dstart

Hint4.ObtainingtheSolution
Equateyourtwoexpressionsforthedistancetraveledbythecaruptotmax ,substitutefortmax intermsofv 0 anda,
andsolveforDstart ,theinitialdistanceofthecarfromthestartingline.Youranswershouldbeintermsofv 0 anda.

ANSWER:

2
v0 v0
Dstart = v0
1
( ) a
a 2 a

Correct

PartC
Findnumericalvaluesfortmax andDstart insecondsandmetersforthe(reasonable)values
v 0 = 60 mph (26.8m/s)anda = 50 m/s .
2

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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D
Separateyourtwonumericalanswersbycommas,andgiveyouranswertotwosignificantfigures.
ANSWER:

,
t max Dstart = 0.54,7.2 s,m

Correct

Thebluecurveshowshowthecar,initiallyatx0 ,continuesatconstantvelocity(blue)andjustbarelytouchesthe
acceleratingdragcar(red)attmax .

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