Quote:
Originally Posted by Honus
Insufficient information. You need to know how acceleration varies with time. If acceleration is constant, then, the acceleration is given by:
a = (100 mile/hour * 5280 ft/mile) / (20 sec * 3600 sec/hr) = 7.33 ft/sec squared
Velocity is acceleration integrated over time, with an initial value of zero:
v=7.33 ft/sec squared * t
Distance is velocity integrated over time, again with an initial value of zero:
d = 7.33 ft/sec squared * t squared/2
At t= 20 sec, d = 1466.67 ft.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
If acceleration is not constant (and it wouldn't be constant in the real world), then the calculations become more complicated.
|
Something as imprecise as an auto accelerating could never be accurately stated with a math formula but i suspect Brian's comes close.
To get it more accurate, seems like calculus might be involved. But coming up with the right equation would be tough. Accurately measuring acceleration would be dicey. We know that wind resistance increases with the square of wind speed so I'm guessing acceleration would be some sort of sideways parabola.
**EDIT** Ah, I see you addressed that in post #20. Well done.