Liz rushes down onto a subway platform to find her train already departing. She stops and watches the cars go by. Each car is 8.60 m long. The first moves past her in 2.05 s and the second in 1.73 s. Find the constant acceleration of the train.

_____m/(s^2)

Please explain this if possible. thanks!

I will be happy to critique your work.

1st car =8.6/2.05 m/s =4.195m/s

2nd car = 8.6/1.73 m/s =4.971 m/s

4.971-4.195= 0.776m/s
a= delta V /delta T
(0.776m/s ) /0.32s= 2.44 m/(s^2)

That answer isn't correct. This is what I did initially and I'm stumped on this question. Please let me know if there's another way to do this question. :)

To find the constant acceleration of the train, we can use the equation:

acceleration = (change in velocity) / time

In this case, the change in velocity is the difference in speeds between the first and second cars, and the time is the difference in time it takes for both cars to pass Liz.

First, let's calculate the change in velocity:

Change in velocity = speed of the first car - speed of the second car

The speed of each car can be found using the formula:

speed = distance / time

Since each car is 8.60 m long, and we are given the time it takes for each car to pass Liz, we can calculate the speed of the first and second cars.

For the first car:
Speed of the first car = 8.60 m / 2.05 s

For the second car:
Speed of the second car = 8.60 m / 1.73 s

Now, let's find the change in velocity:

Change in velocity = (speed of the first car) - (speed of the second car)

Next, we calculate the time difference:

Time difference = 2.05 s - 1.73 s

Finally, we can find the constant acceleration using the equation:

acceleration = (change in velocity) / (time difference)

By substituting the values we calculated earlier, we can find the constant acceleration of the train.

To find the constant acceleration of the train, we can use the formula:

acceleration (a) = (final velocity - initial velocity) / time.

In this case, the initial velocity is 0 m/s because the train was stationary when Liz started watching it. We need to find the final velocity for each car, which is the speed at which they pass Liz.

To find the final velocity for the first car, we can use the formula:

final velocity (v) = distance / time.

The distance is equal to the length of the car, which is given as 8.60 m. The time it takes for the first car to pass Liz is 2.05 seconds. So, the final velocity of the first car is:

v = 8.60 m / 2.05 s.

By dividing these values, we can calculate the velocity in meters per second (m/s).

To find the final velocity for the second car, we follow the same process. The distance is still 8.60 m, but the time is now 1.73 seconds:

v = 8.60 m / 1.73 s.

Again, dividing these values gives us the final velocity of the second car.

Lastly, to find the constant acceleration, we subtract the initial velocity of 0 m/s from the final velocity for each car, and divide the result by the time it takes for each car to pass Liz.

Let's plug in the values and calculate the constant acceleration for both cars.