A car traveling 85 km/h strikes a tree. The front end of the car compresses and the driver comes to rest after traveling 0.80 m. What was the average acceleration of the driver during the collision?

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Answer 1 · 2018-02-16T15:53:42

The acceleration is $=-348.4ms^-2$

The initial velocity of the car (driver) is $u=85kmh^-1$

$u=85/3.6=23.61ms^-1$

The distance travelled by the driver is $s=0.80m$

The final velocity of the driver is $v=0ms^-1$

Apply the equation of motion,

$v^2=u^2+2as$

The acceleration is

$a=(v^2-u^2)/(2s)=(0-23.61^2)/(2*0.80)$

$=-348.4ms^-2$