Find the final velocity of the bobsled after the last bobsledder jumps in

[erobz]

I see that the question is poorly stated. Is it wrong for the second guy to push longer than the first? The time taken by each sledder can be different, right? I understand the answers doesn't make sense.

I wouldn’t say is wrong that they push longer, but how much longer is a stretch.

Physiologically, the last guy is outputting some pretty high wattage, for a pretty long time, not to mention how much distance they cover before getting into the sled…the real guys are in under 5 seconds (total elapsed time).

The real problem here is the solution does not match the problem statement.

 

[paulimerci]

I see that the question is poorly stated. Is it wrong for the second guy to push longer than the first? The time taken by each sledder can be different, right? I understand the answers

I wouldn’t say is wrong that they push longer, but how much longer is a stretch.

Physiologically, the last guy is outputting some pretty high wattage, for a pretty long time, not to mention how much distance they cover before getting into the sled…the real guys are in under 5 seconds (total elapsed time).

The real problem here is the solution does not match the problem statement.

I don't know why teachers create such difficult problems; they are unrealistic, to be sure. I'm happy that you and @haruspex were able to identify the problem within the problem.

 

[erobz]

I guess they are just trying to keep it interesting, and someone (may not have been the instructor) didn't give it the thought it deserved.

I'm not an academic, but I don't see the prof. solving every problem they pull from a new textbook. They probably let statistics sort it out...enough people bring up an issue, they give it a check.

 

[paulimerci]

I guess they are just trying to keep it interesting, and someone (may not have been the instructor) didn't give it the thought it deserved.

I'm not an academic, but I don't see the prof. solving every problem they pull from a new textbook. They probably let statistics sort it out...enough people bring up an issue, they give it a check.

I guess so. It's really odd. The problem statement for a different question I posed in the forum yesterday was also discovered to be incorrect. Thanks to @jbriggs444 who gave a detailed explanation of what's wrong with the question and how it is inconsistent with the answer sheet provided. Thank you very much, Erobz and Haruspex. I'm learning a lot in this forum.