Edexcel M3 — Question 3

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleM3 (Mechanics 3)
TopicVariable Force

3. A car starts from rest at the point \(O\) and moves along a straight line. The car accelerates to a maximum velocity, \(V \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 1 }\), before decelerating and coming to rest again at the point \(A\). The acceleration of the car during this journey, \(a \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 2 }\), is modelled by the formula $$a = \frac { 500 - k x } { 150 }$$ where \(x\) is the distance in metres of the car from \(O\).
Using this model and given that the car is travelling at \(16 \mathrm {~ms} ^ { - 1 }\) when it is 40 m from \(O\),
  1. find \(k\),
  2. show that \(V = 41\), correct to 2 significant figures,
  3. find the distance \(O A\).