Question

For the first 10 seconds a squirrel runs 3 m/s to look for an acorn. The next 5 seconds he eats an acorn that he finds. Afterwards the squirrel runs 2 m/s back to where he started. (A) How long does it take for the squirrel to get back to where he started?

Answer 1

Distance covered by the squirrel to look for an acorn :

d = ( 3 m/s ) × 10 s = 30 m.

Time taken to eat an Acron is 5 seconds.

Time taken to cover distance of 30 m with 2 m/s speed is :

$T=\dfrac{30}{2}\ s= 15 \ s$

Therefore, total time take to  get back to where he started is ( 10+5+15 ) = 30 s.

Hence, this is the required solution.