Question

You are driving directly behind a pickup truck, going at the same speed as the truck. A crate falls from the bed of the truck to the road. (a) Will your car hit the crate before the crate hits the road if you neither brake nor swerve? (b) During the fall, is the horizontal speed of the crate more than, less than, or the same as that of the truck?

Answer 1

1.) falling from the truck, the crate is in free fall.
It’s vertical component of velocity is affected by gravity. The horizontal


2.) component is the same magnitude as it (and the tuck) had at the moment of launch.


3.) while airborne it maintains horizontal speed.

You and it have the same x-displacement during this time, meaning the distance between the crate and you will be constant until the moment it hits the ground.

No, you do not hit the crate.

After it hits the ground. It’s a whole different story.

Hope this helps a little

Answer 2

(a) The crate and your car move towards each other and in the process close the distance between them at equal rate, thus your car will hit the crate before it hits the road.

(b) The horizontal speed of the crate is equal to the speed of the truck.

Relative velocity of your car and the truck

The distance between the truck and your car is determined by applying relative velocity formula as shown below;

(Va - Vb)t = d

where;

• Va is the speed of your car
• Vb is the speed of the truck
• d is the distance between your car and the truck

When the crate falls from the truck, the crate will travel backward with same speed as the truck which is equal to the speed of your car. The crate and your car move towards each other and in the process close the distance between them at equal rate, thus your car will hit the crate before it hits the road.

The horizontal speed of the crate is equal to the speed of the truck.

Learn more about relative velocity here: https://brainly.com/question/17228388