Question

An electric toy car with a mass of `5 kg` is powered by a motor with a voltage of `4 V` and a current supply of `5 A`. How fast can the toy car accelerate from rest to `3 m/s`?

Answer 1

`t~~0.38"s"`

Explanation:

Power can be expressed in terms of current and voltage as:

`color(blue)(P=VI)`

• The units of power are watts, where one watt is equivalent to one joule (of energy) per second. We can use this idea along with the concept of kinetic energy to determine the time required to accelerate the toy car to the given velocity.

`color(blue)(K=1/2mv^2)`

`=>`where `m` is the object's mass and `v` is its velocity.

We have the following information:

• `|->m=5"kg"`
• `|->V=4"V"`
• `|->I=5"A"`
• `|->v=3"m"//"s"`

We can calculate power:

`P=(4"V")(5"A)`

`color(blue)(P=20" Joules"//"second")`

Now kinetic energy:

`K=1/2(5"kg")(3"m"//"s")^2`

`color(blue)(K=7.5"J")`

So, we have:

`7.5cancel("Joules")xx(1"second")/(20cancel(" Joules"))`

`=>0.375" seconds"`

`=>color(blue)(~~0.38" s")`