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A car is travelling at 10 m/s - Edexcel - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 3 - 2021 - Paper 1
Question 3
A car is travelling at 10 m/s. The driver sees a danger and stops the car. (i) The stopping distance for the car would be smaller if the car A had more passengers... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A car is travelling at 10 m/s - Edexcel - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 3 - 2021 - Paper 1
Step 1
i) The stopping distance for the car would be smaller if the car
Answer
The correct answer is D: was travelling more slowly. When a car is travelling at a slower speed, the kinetic energy is reduced, thereby decreasing the stopping distance. Increasing the number of passengers (A), having worn tyres (B), or needing new brakes (C) would all contribute to an increased stopping distance.
Step 2
ii) Use the graph to find the driver's reaction time.
Answer
To determine the driver's reaction time from the speed-time graph:
- Identify the horizontal line on the graph. This line represents the time during which the driver is applying the brakes before the car starts to decelerate.
- Measure the duration of this horizontal line.
From the graph, it can be observed that this line extends from 0 to 0.6 seconds. Therefore, the driver's reaction time is 0.6 seconds.