Below is a diagram of a train that uniformly accelerates from
rest to point A, and then travels at a constant speed. Students are
asked to calculate the acceleration of the train before reaching
point A using the distances and times given. Do
not provide them with the
kinematic equations.
Students who suffer from this difficulty
tend to attempt this problem by finding a speed first (either
dividing 50 m by 10 s or 40 m by 4 s), and then dividing that speed
by a given time interval (typically 10 s for those using 5 m/s and 4
s for those using 10 m/s).
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Brown and Jeff
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