acceleration question?

Question

In 1865, Jules Verne proposed sending men to the Moon by firing a space capsule from a 220 m long cannon with final speed of 10.97 km/s. What would have been the unrealistically large acceleration experienced by the space travelers during their launch? (A human can stand an acceleration of 15g for a short time.)

---------- m/s2

I am unsure how to solve this problem. I know that acceleration is change in velocity over change in time. I started out by converting the km per sec to meter per second and got 10970 m/s but dont know where to go from here. Am I starting the right way? Can someone please help? Thanks!

Answer 1

10.97km/s = 10970m/s
Average speed inside the cannon:
v(avg.) =( v(zero) + v(final))/2
v(avg.) = (0 + 10970)/2
v(avg) = 5485m/s
t = D/r
t = 220/5485
t = 0.0401s
v = at
a = v/t
a = 10970/0.0401
a = 273566m/s^2
[273566/9.9 = 27915g's]

Answer 2

There is alot more behind who will win .. a/c will will accelerate linear.. or otherwords, a constant rate of acceleration(with some small fluctions due to drag of the wheels, flaps ) until the thrust=drag. Cars have Gears, meaning that acceleration is not constant overall. Each gear has a different acceleration rate, until the max power available is acheived. third is power to weight ratio- the more object weighs, the more force is required to accelerate it. Physics 101, F=MA In a short distance, a car would win, just because of the time required for the engines to spool up, and accelerate the aircraft, but over a long distance, the acceleration from the aircraft will over take the car. The fastest road legal car is recorded at 253mph (Buggati Veyron) . A b747 flies at around 380kts

Answer 3

acceleration question