Question

what is the initial velocity of a go-kart traveling at a uniform acceleration of 0.5 m/s^2 for 5s as it slows down to a stop?​

Answer 1

The initial velocity of go-kart is 2.5 m/s.

Explanation:

Here, the uniform acceleration of go-kart is given as 0.5 m/s². Also the time required by it to stop is also given as 5 s. As acceleration is the measure of change in velocity per unit time.

In this case, the velocity should be changed from a value to zero to come to rest. So the initial velocity will be positive value and final velocity is zero.

As we know the values of acceleration, final velocity and time, the initial velocity can be easily determined as follows.

$Acceleration = \frac{Final velocity -Initial velocity}{Time}$

Since, final velocity is zero, acceleration is 0.5 m/s² and time is 5 s, then,

        $-0.5=\frac{-\text {Initial velocity}}{5}$

        Initial velocity = 0.5 × 5 = 2.5 m/s.

So the initial velocity of go-kart is 2.5 m/s.