A zebra starts from rest and accelerates at 1.9 m/s^2. How far has the zebra gone after 5 seconds?

1 Answer
Dec 10, 2016

Using formula dist = 1/2 * a * t^2, the zebra has gone 23.75 meters

Explanation:

At the end of the first second the zebra is going at 1.9 m/s.
At the end of the second second the zebra is going at 3.8 m/s
...
At the end of the fifth second the zebra is going at (5 * 1.9 =) 9.5 m/s
The zebra's Average Speed was (9.5 / 2 =) 4.75 m/s
Thus in 5 seconds the zebra has travelled (5 * 4.75 = ) 23.75 meters

The basic kinematics formulas to solve such problems is dist = 1/2 * a * t^2