In the daytona 500 auto race, a ford thunderbird and a mercedes benz are moving side by side down a straightaway at 71.0 m/s. the driver of the thunderbird realizes that she must make a pit stop, and she smoothly slows to a stop over a distance of 250 m. she spends 5.00 s in the pit and then accelerates out, reaching her previous speed of 71.0 m/s after a distance of 390 m. at this point how far has the thunderbird fallen behind the mercedes benz, which has continued at a constant speed?

The distance between both cars is 990 m

Explanation:

The equations for the position and the velocity of an object moving in a straight line are as follows:

x = x0 + v0 * t + 1/2 * a * t²

v = v0 + a * t

where:

x = position of the car at time "t"

x0 = initial position

v0 = initial speed

t = time

a = acceleration

v = velocity

First let´s find how much time it takes the driver to come to stop (v = 0).  We will consider the origin of the reference system as the point at which the driver realizes she must stop. Then x0 = 0

With the equation of velocity, we can obtain the acceleration and replace it in the equation of position, knowing that the position will be 250 m at that time.

v = v0 + a*t

v-v0 / t = a

0 m/s - 71.0 m/s / t =a

-71.0 m/s / t = a

Replacing in the equation for position:

x = v0* t +1/2 * a * t²

250 m = 71.0 m/s * t + 1/2 *(-71.0 m/s / t) * t²

250 m = 71.0 m/s * t - 1/2 * 71.0 m/s * t

250m = 1/2 * 71.0m/s *t

t = 2 * 250 m / 71.0 m/s = 7.04 s

It takes the driver 7.04 s to stop.

Then, we can calculate how much time it took the driver to reach her previous speed. The procedure is the same as before:

v = v0 + a*t

v-v0 / t = a      now v0 = 0 and v = 71.0 m/s

(71.0 m/s - 0 m/s) / t = a

71.0 m/s / t =a

Replacing in the position equation:

x = v0* t +1/2 * a * t²      

390 m = 0 m/s * t + 1/2 * 71.0 m/s / t * t²       (In this case, the initial position is in the pit, then x0 = 0 because it took 390 m from the pit to reach the initial speed).

390m * 2 / 71.0 m/s = t

t = 11.0 s

In total, it took the driver 11.0s + 5.00 s + 7.04 s = 23.0 s to stop and to reach the initial speed again.

In that time, the Mercedes traveled the following distance:

x = v * t = 71.0 m/s * 23.0 s = 1.63 x 10³ m

The Thunderbird traveled in that time 390 m + 250 m = 640 m.

The distance between the two will be then:

distance between both cars = 1.63 x 10³ m - 640 m = 990 m.  

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