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How do you find the initial velocity and convert units given time, final velocity, and acceleration in a motion problem?

Your old car has an acceleration of 2 m/s2. If you travel for 10 seconds and reach a speed of 80 mph, then what was your initial speed?

Summary

  1. mph- miles per hour
  2. vf- final velocity
  3. t- time
  4. s- seconds
  5. a- acceleration
  6. m- meters

Notes

    1. It's a good idea to write down the variables that you know in your problem
    1. vf- final velocity
    2. mph- miles per hour
    3. a- acceleration
    4. m- meters, s- seconds
    5. t- time
    6. vi- initial velocity
    1. Think about the variables in your problem and then figure out what equation contains those variables
    1. vi- initial velocity
    2. vf- final velocity
    3. a- acceleration
    4. t- time
    1. vi- initial velocity
    2. vf- final velocity
    3. a- acceleration
    4. t- time
    1. Apply some algebra to isolate for initial velocity in the equation
    1. vi- initial velocity
    2. vf- final velocity
    3. a- acceleration
    4. t- time
    1. mph- miles per hour
    2. m/s- meters per second
    1. mph- miles per hour
    2. m/s- meters per second
    1. Last step, plug in the variables into the equation for initial velocity
    1. vi- initial velocity
    2. m- meters
    3. s- seconds
    1. vi- initial velocity
    2. m- meters
    3. s- seconds
    1. mph- miles per hour
    2. m/s- meters per second
    1. mph- miles per hour
    2. m/s- meters per second