Physics·Kinematics·grades 9–10

A body accelerates from rest at 2 m/s² — what distance does it cover in 5 s?

Problem

A body starts moving from rest with constant acceleration a = 2 m/s². What distance will it cover in t = 5 s?

Answer

S = 25 m

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Choose the formula
For uniformly accelerated motion from rest the distance is $S = \dfrac{a t^2}{2}$ (the initial speed is $v_0 = 0$ ).
Step 2. Substitute the data
$a = 2\ \text{m/s}^2$ , $t = 5\ \text{s}$ . Substitute into the formula.

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Step 3. Compute
Step 4. Answer

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Common mistakes

Using $S = v\cdot t$ — that holds only for uniform motion, and here the speed changes.
Forgetting to square the time.

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