question regarding kinematics

[ssjsike]

Hi guys, I realize that this is a silly question, but here goes:

How long would it take an object starting from rest and accelerating uniformly at 1.5 m/s^2 to travel 3 m?

The answer is 2 seconds.

I understand the method of using a big 5 kinematics equation (x=vit+.5at^2), but why is this methodology wrong:?

a=v/t
d=vt --> v = d/t

a = (d/t)/t --> a = d/t^2 ---> t = 1.4 seconds

Thanks for the help everyone!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Temperature101]

Hi guys, I realize that this is a silly question, but here goes:

How long would it take an object starting from rest and accelerating uniformly at 1.5 m/s^2 to travel 3 m?

The answer is 2 seconds.

I understand the method of using a big 5 kinematics equation (x=vit+.5at^2), but why is this methodology wrong:?

a=v/t
d=vt --> v = d/t

a = (d/t)/t --> a = d/t^2 ---> t = 1.4 seconds

Thanks for the help everyone!

I think you fail to realize that the d= vt is that they using the average velocity. Since the initial velocity is zero, the average velocity is v/2. Then d = (v/2)*t , which is the same as v = 2d/t; replace that in the a= v/t will yield a = 2d/t^2 and t^2= 2d/a....t^2 = 6/1.5 and t = 2. Hope it makes sense...

 

[ssjsike]

Thank you Temperature101! This definitely makes sense.