Question

A plane traveling at 80 m/s is slowing down on the runway. In 15 seconds, the plane comes to a complete stop at the gate. How do you calculate the acceleration of the plane?

Answer 1

`a =` `Deltav` `-:Deltat`

Explanation:

Acceleration is equal to change in velocity divided by the change in time.

If the plane stops, the finishing speed is 0m/s. As you mentioned, the speed at which the plane is at when it starts to slow down is 80m/s. The change in velocity must therefore be -80m/s (Change in velocity is finishing speed minus starting speed so this number must be a negative)

`a =` `-80` `-:Deltat`

The time at which the plane started to slow down is 0 seconds, and the plane takes 15 seconds to slow to a stop. The change in time must therefore be 15 seconds.

`a =` `-80` `-:15`

`a = -1.2`m/`s^2`

Hope this helped you!