Worked Example | Where Will Two Cars Traveling at Different Velocities Meet? | Kinematic Equations

At t=0 car traveling at a constant velocity of 25m/s is 100m behind a car traveling in the same direction at a velocity of 20m/s. Calculate the time and position at which the faster car will overtake the slower car.

This problem can be viewed as a relative motion problem where the difference in the velocities between the two vehicles can used to find how long it will take the faster car to make up the difference in the two cars positions... However, while that may work in this case, it is better to learn the fundamentals of setting two equations of motion, more specifically position, equal to each other now in a relatively simple problem. That way later on in more complicated problems you have the skillset to find where two objects undergoing more complicated motion will meet.

This kinematics problem shows up in a variety of STEM courses including high school physics. It serves as the foundation of problems that will appear on the AP Physics 1, AP Physics C, A Level Physics and JEE exams.