Question

In a video game, a ball moving at 0.6 meter/second collides with a wall. After the collision, the velocity of the ball changed to -0.4 meter/second. The collision takes 0.2 seconds to occur. What’s the acceleration of the ball during the collision?

Answer 1

We have:

Initial velocity (u) = 0.6 m/s
Final velocity (v) = -0.4 m/s
Time (t) = 0.2 seconds

We have u, v, t
We need to find a

We would need a constant acceleration equation that has 'u', 'v', 't' and 'a' in it.

The formula is: $v=u+at$

$-0.4 = 0.6+0.2a$
$-0.4-0.6=0.2a$
$-1=0.2a$
$a=-5$ m/s²