Speeding Ticket Problem

Name ______________________________________

Period ____

Speeding Ticket Problem

Purpose: Justify whether or not a driver deserves a speeding ticket in a specific scenario.

Materials & Resources: text message conversation, Google Maps, notes, calculator

Part 1: Average Velocity (vavg)

Goal: Use information from the text message conversation and Google Maps to calculate the driver’s average velocity. Tip: Look up conversions for miles to meters and m/s to mph.

Givens:                                         Show work to solve for vavg:

Δx = ______________________ mi

Δx = ______________________ m

Δt = ______________________ s

vavg = ___________________ m/s

vavg = ___________________ mph

Student 1 says that the driver should not get a speeding ticket because vavg isn’t significantly higher than the posted limit (25 mph). Student 2 says that vavg doesn’t necessarily indicate how fast the driver was going when the police officer saw them, so it is unclear whether the driver should get a speeding ticket based on this information alone. Who do you agree with? Why?

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Part 2: Instantaneous Velocity (v)

Goal: Use a Position vs. Time graph to calculate the driver’s instantaneous velocity, v, at the time they were spotted by the police officer and justify whether the driver should get a speeding ticket.

Plot the Position vs. Time data for the car, shown below.

Calculate the car’s instantaneous velocity at t = 15 s. Show your work below.

v = _________________________ m/s

v  = ________________________ mph

Using your graph and calculations from above, justify whether or not the driver should get a speeding ticket.

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