Problem 4 Solution: Two cars are moving at constant velocity to the right.

At time = 0, car A is
25 m ahead of car B. Car A has a velocity of 20 m/s and car B has a velocity of 25 m/s. Draw a
motion map for the two cars up to time = 10 sec. Explain how you can determine when car B
catches up to car A.

With a motion map drawn carefully to scale like the one above, you can see that the fifth pair of
dots line up, indicating that B catches up to A at t = 5 sec.

You can also solve the problem by recognizing that B is traveling with a velocity 5 m/s greater
than the velocity of A. Thus, in each second, B will gain 5 meters on A. In five seconds B will
have gained 25 meters and will have caught up to A.

A third way of answering the problem is algebraically:

Goal: You want to find the time corresponding to when B's displacement equals A's
displacement plus 25 m.
As an equation:
displacement of B = displacement of A + 25 m

We can use the constant velocity mathematical relationship to find each displacement:
displacement of B = (velocity of B) x time
displacement of A = (velocity of A) x time

Substituting:
(velocity of B) x time = (velocity of A) x time + 25 m

Solving for time:

time = (25 m) / ( velocity of B - velocity of A) = (25 m) / (5 m/s) = 5 s