SUVAT Velocity — Motorcycle Merging (Worked Example)

Given

• u = 5 m/s

• a = 4.2 m/s²

• t = 5 s

Find

The final velocity v.

Principle

With constant acceleration the velocity-time graph is a straight line, and v = u + at reads the final value straight off it.

Formula

Solution

1. Write the equation: $v = u + at$

2. Substitute: $v = 5 + (4.2)(5)$

3. Velocity gained: $4.2 \times 5 = 21\ \mathrm{m/s}$

4. Add: $v = 5 + 21 = 26\ \mathrm{m/s}$

Unit check

m/s² × s = m/s, added to m/s — all velocity units.

What this means physically

26 m/s is about 94 km/h — typical highway merging speed, reached in just 5 seconds thanks to the motorcycle's strong acceleration.