Question

4. Han's younger sister is riding her tricycle in a straight line. After 3 s, her speed is 0.5 m/s. After 5 s, her speed is 1.5 m/s. What is her acceleration during this time?

Answer 1

Answer:

Han's younger sister accelerated at a rate of 0.5 meters per square second during that time.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let suppose that Han's younger sister accelerates at constant rate, then, acceleration ($a$), measured in meters per square second, can be calculated by the following equation:

$a = \frac{v_{f}-v_{o}}{t_{f}-t_{o}}$

Where:

$t_{o}$, $t_{f}$ - Initial and final times, measured in seconds.

$v_{o}$, $v_{f}$ - Initial and final speeds, measured in meters per second.

If we know that $t_{o} = 3\,s$, $t_{f} = 5\,s$, $v_{o} = 0.5\,\frac{m}{s}$ and $v_{f} = 1.5\,\frac{m}{s}$, the acceleration of the younger sister is:

$a = \frac{1.5\,\frac{m}{s}-0.5\,\frac{m}{s} }{5\,s-3\,s}$

$a = 0.5\,\frac{m}{s^{2}}$

Han's younger sister accelerated at a rate of 0.5 meters per square second during that time.