OCR MEI M1 2012 January — Question 3

Exam BoardOCR MEI
ModuleM1 (Mechanics 1)
Year2012
SessionJanuary
TopicNon-constant acceleration

3 Two girls, Marie and Nina, are members of an Olympic hockey team. They are doing fitness training. Marie runs along a straight line at a constant speed of \(6 \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 1 }\). Nina is stationary at a point O on the line until Marie passes her. Nina immediately runs after Marie until she catches up with her. The time, \(t \mathrm {~s}\), is measured from the moment when Nina starts running. So when \(t = 0\), both girls are at O .
Nina's acceleration, \(a \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 2 }\), is given by $$\begin{array} { l l } a = 4 - t & \text { for } 0 \leqslant t \leqslant 4 ,
a = 0 & \text { for } t > 4 . \end{array}$$
  1. Show that Nina's speed, \(v \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 1 }\), is given by $$\begin{array} { l l } v = 4 t - \frac { 1 } { 2 } t ^ { 2 } & \text { for } 0 \leqslant t \leqslant 4 ,
    v = 8 & \text { for } t > 4 . \end{array}$$
  2. Find an expression for the distance Nina has run at time \(t\), for \(0 \leqslant t \leqslant 4\). Find how far Nina has run when \(t = 4\) and when \(t = 5 \frac { 1 } { 3 }\).
  3. Show that Nina catches up with Marie when \(t = 5 \frac { 1 } { 3 }\).