Questions: A fish swimming at a constant speed of 0.5 m / s suddenly notices a shark appear behind it. Five seconds later, the fish is swimming in the same direction at a speed of 2.5 m / s. Calculate the fish's acceleration?

Solution Steps

• Initial speed of the fish, \( v_i = 0.5 \, \mathrm{m/s} \).
• Final speed of the fish, \( v_f = 2.5 \, \mathrm{m/s} \).

• Time taken for the change in speed, \( t = 5 \, \mathrm{s} \).

• The formula for acceleration is given by: \[ a = \frac{v_f - v_i}{t} \]

• Substitute the known values into the formula: \[ a = \frac{2.5 \, \mathrm{m/s} - 0.5 \, \mathrm{m/s}}{5 \, \mathrm{s}} \]

• Perform the calculation: \[ a = \frac{2.0 \, \mathrm{m/s}}{5 \, \mathrm{s}} = 0.4 \, \mathrm{m/s^2} \]

Final Answer