Question

On a straight road, a car speeds up at a constant rate from rest to 20 m/s over a 5 second interval and a truck slows at a constant rate from 20 m/s to a complete stop over a 10 second interval. how does the distance traveled by the truck compare to that of the car?

Answer 1

To determine the total distance traveled by an object in constant speed, just multiply the speed by the time. So, for the car, the total distance traveled is,
distance by car = (20 m/s)(5s) = 100 m
For decelerating object, the distance traveled is,
distance = Vt - (at^2)/2
For the truck,
distance by truck = (20 m/s)(10s) - (2m/s^2)((10s)^2)/2 = 100 m

Relatively, both have traveled the same distance.