Question

"The White Shark" allows riders to start from rest on a tube and then slide down a 44 meter slide. It takes the rider 6.2 seconds to reach the bottom. What is the average acceleration of the ride?
A. 2.3 m/s^2 B. 3.4 m/s^2 C. 4.2 m/s^2 D. 5.0 m/s^2

I did (44 - 0)/6.2 but that's not any of the answers??

Answer 1

Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object that is moving. This value is a result of all the forces that is acting on an object which is described by Newton's second law of motion. Calculations of such is straightforward, if we are given the final velocity, the initial velocity and the total time interval. However, we are not given these values. We are only left by using the kinematic equation expressed as:

d = v0t + at^2/2

We cancel the term with v0 since it is initially at rest,

d = at^2/2
44 = a(6.2)^2/2
a = 2.3 m/s^2