Serway & Jewett — Motion in One Dimension: Problem 21

A glider of length 12.4 cm moves on an air track with constant acceleration (Fig P2.19). A time interval of 0.628 s elapses between the moment when its front end passes a fixed point Ⓐ along the track and the moment when its back end passes this point. Next, a time interval of 1.39 s elapses between the moment when the back end of the glider passes the point Ⓐ and the moment when the front end of the glider passes a second point Ⓑ farther down the track. After that, an additional 0.431 s elapses until the back end of the glider passes point Ⓑ. (a) Find the average speed of the glider as it passes point Ⓐ. (b) Find the acceleration of the glider. (c) Explain how you can compute the acceleration without knowing the distance between points Ⓐ and Ⓑ.