two cars 200meters apart drive towards one another. If one car travels at 12 meters/s and the other at 26 meters/s how long does it take for them to collide?

To find the time it takes for the two cars to collide, we need to determine how long it takes for them to cover the distance between them, which is 200 meters.

Let's consider the motion of each car separately. The car traveling at 12 meters/s will cover a certain distance in a certain amount of time, and the car traveling at 26 meters/s will cover a different distance in the same amount of time.

Let's denote the time it takes for them to collide as "t."

For the car traveling at 12 meters/s:
Distance = Speed × Time
Distance = 12 m/s × t

For the car traveling at 26 meters/s:
Distance = Speed × Time
Distance = 26 m/s × t

Since the two distances must add up to 200 meters (the initial distance between the cars), we can set up the following equation:

12t + 26t = 200

Now, let's solve this equation for t:

12t + 26t = 200
38t = 200
t = 200 / 38
t ≈ 5.26 seconds

Therefore, it takes approximately 5.26 seconds for the two cars to collide.