Bob is driving the getaway car after the big bank robbery. He'sgoing 45.1 m/s when his headlights suddenly reveal a nail stripthat the cops have placed across the road 170 m in front of him. IfBob can stop in time, he can throw the car into reverse and escape.But if he crosses the nail strip, all his tires will go flat and hewill be caught. Bob's reaction time before he can hit the brakes is0.38 s, and his car's maximum deceleration is 10.06m/s2. Is Bob in jail? To answer that question you haveto calculate the distance traveled by Bob before he can stop.
Explanation / Answer
s1 = v t = 45.1 * .38 = 17.1 m distance car travels before hitting brakes s2 = 170 - 17.1 = 152.9 m maximum distance for car to decelerate to stop 2 a s = vf2- vi2 =- vi2 sincevf = 0 s = 45.12 / (2 * 10.06) = 101m so he is able to stop before hitting thenail strip