Speed, Time, Distance How to set up my equation

49242

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Hello, this is my first time here, please help me set up this equation:
Elevator accelerates upward at 3.125 m/s2 for 4.0 seconds to reach final speed;

a. if it starts at rest, what is final speed in meters per second?
b. what is final speed in miles per hour?

Does the 3.125 m/s2 translate to meters per or miles per second?
Thank You in advance
 
I sincerely hope you are not on an elevator with acceleration having anything to do with 3.125 miles per second!

Are you SURE this is beginning algebra?
 
Well it is Math 120 at my community college, so I could be wrong. This is one of the questions on our homework from our math dept.
 
49242 said:
Hello, this is my first time here, please help me set up this equation:
Elevator accelerates upward at 3.125 m/s2 for 4.0 seconds to reach final speed;

a. if it starts at rest, what is final speed in meters per second?
b. what is final speed in miles per hour?

Does the 3.125 m/s2 translate to meters per or miles per second?
Thank You in advance

I echo tkhunny's hope that you never experience an elevator with an acceleration of 3.125 miles / s^2. The results on your body would be unpleasant, I suspect.

Now, as for his question. If you are in beginning algebra, I presume you have been given a formula for this sort of question. What formula is in your books or notes?

If you are in AP physics or beginning calculus, I'll give you a hint: the answer requires integration over what interval?
 
49242 said:
Hello, this is my first time here, please help me set up this equation:
Elevator accelerates upward at 3.125 m/s2 for 4.0 seconds to reach final speed;

a. if it starts at rest, what is final speed in meters per second?
b. what is final speed in miles per hour?

Does the 3.125 m/s2 translate to meters per or miles per second?
Thank You in advance

I am sure that m/s^2 means meters per sec. per sec.

Assuming you have covered acceleration: The acceleration of a body is defined as the change in its velocity during an interval of time divided by the duration of the time interval. If Vo is the initial velocity at the beginning of the period of time and Vf is the final velocity at the end of the period of time, the change in velocity is Vo - Vf. If the velocity change occurs over the period of time t, the acceleration of the body is given by a = (Vo - Vf)/t.

The relationship between initial velocity, final velocity, distance covered and time, in uniformlay accelerated motion is defined mathematically by the following equation:

From a = (Vo - Vf)/t, the final velocity of a body under constant acceleration is given by Vf = Vo + at.

You should now be able to answer your problem.
 
I am sorry I went to high school... in the front and out the back at a high rate of speed and am now after all these years trying to figure out math 120. Thank you for all your help in advance.
 
49242 said:
I am sorry I went to high school... in the front and out the back at a high rate of speed and am now after all these years trying to figure out math 120. Thank you for all your help in advance.

People at this site will help if they can (which is almost always) and if you work with them.

It is meters, not miles. Everyone was joking when we talked about miles. 60 miles per hour is 1 mile per minute. Miles per second is really really fast; no elevator in the world travels that fast. At just 1 mile per second, you could go from New York to LA in less than an hour.

But what no one here knows is what Math 120 AT YOUR SCHOOL covers. The basic question before anyone can give you help attuned to your level of math is some idea of what that level is. I strongly suspect now that Math 120 is indeed a beginning algebra course, which means that you have posted on the right page.

Now if you have been given some formula about acceleration, please let us know what formula you are expected to know. Then we can proceed. OK? If no formula has been provided, the journey may get a little rocky.
 
Thank You, to everyone who responded to my question about the "speeding elevator". I looked this up and this elevator actually is real. The speed is 28 miles per hour and it only takes 40 seconds to get to the 69th floor!!! It has now been up scaled by another tall building in Japan with an even faster elevator...I wonder if they provide some kind of safety gear before people get on or some kind of insurance?? :shock: I would rather go for a motorcycle ride with no helmet! Seems so much safer. Again Thanks. If I need help again I Will Be Back. :D
 
49242 said:
The speed is 28 miles per hour and it only takes 40 seconds to get to the 69th floor!!! It has now been up scaled [sic] by another tall building in Japan

If by "upscaled" you mean some record has been broken, I think that your source is outdated.

In Taiwan, the Taipei 101 building has a suite of double-decker elevators that travel 1,010 meters per minute (roughly 37.7 miles per hour).

(These elevators may require traveling 50 floors, before reaching top speed — about half the height of the building.)

At more than $2,500,000 each (US equivalent), safety earplugs are unnecessary because full cabin-pressurization comes included. 8-)

 
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