- #1
creechur
- 8
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I know this problem has been posted before, but I think my answer is correct and I want to know why it was considered wrong!
Cars A and B are racing each other along the same straight road in the following manner: Car A has a head start and is a distance Da beyond the starting line at t=0. The starting line is at x=0. Car A travels at a constant speed va. Car B starts at the starting line but has a better engine than Car A, and thus Car B travels at a constant speed vb, which is greater than va.
xb=xa
when b catches up to a
I just set the two equal to one another:
vb(t) = Da + Va (t)
solving for t I arrived at
t = Da \ (vb - va)
and was quickly told that the answer didn't depend on va and vb...If that's true then I have no idea where to proceed and would appreciate any guidance on where to start.
Homework Statement
Cars A and B are racing each other along the same straight road in the following manner: Car A has a head start and is a distance Da beyond the starting line at t=0. The starting line is at x=0. Car A travels at a constant speed va. Car B starts at the starting line but has a better engine than Car A, and thus Car B travels at a constant speed vb, which is greater than va.
Homework Equations
xb=xa
when b catches up to a
The Attempt at a Solution
I just set the two equal to one another:
vb(t) = Da + Va (t)
solving for t I arrived at
t = Da \ (vb - va)
and was quickly told that the answer didn't depend on va and vb...If that's true then I have no idea where to proceed and would appreciate any guidance on where to start.
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