The howling started at 11pm on Wednesday night, filling The Temple with an air of fear that was quickly followed by eerie rattling sounds coming from the roof above, as if its tiles were being systematically peeled away by whatever’s behind these ungodly noises.
With thoughts of being in a scene of a Korean horror flick (where the actress usually dies) flooding her mind, Miss Loi decided to abandon the Kinematics question she was doing and quickly closed shop for the night.
The curls of her hair were instantly straightened by a mighty gust of wind the moment she stepped outside the Temple Gates, to be greeted by an extraordinary scene unlike any she had ever witnessed: leaves, twigs, plastic bags and whatever <1 kg were strewn everywhere as gale-forced winds lashed through Novena.
Closing her agape mouth just in time to prevent any unwanted debris for supper, Miss Loi recovered her composure and tried to make a dash for her car under the deafening roar of the wind.
Oh it was not a pretty sight as her hair parting constantly changed directions as the wild tempest battered her from all directions – with flying twigs that threatened to scar her precious face, and NTUC plastic bags & the odd flying underwear that threatened to smother her at every turn – all while being mocked by Ivy Lee in brochures blown from the neighbourhood slimming centre.
When she finally hit the road on her way home (albeit with a new hairstyle), she found to her dismay the roads perilously littered with leaves and branches, with huge fallen trees blocking her way 🙁
Miss Loi’s car first passed a big tree located along the way at a fixed point O at a speed of 210 m/min.
Assuming that she moved in a straight line and that her acceleration a m/s2 at t minutes after passing O is given by a = 60t − 240,
- Calculate her speed at the second minute.
- Given that she had to turn back immediately to the direction she came from upon encountering a fallen tree, find the value(s) of t when she had to turn back.
- If the big tree at O was felled by the wind at the tenth minute, will she be able to pass it before it fell? Calculate the total distance she would have travelled in 10 minutes.
To further what’s being taught in its EMaths counterpart, AMaths Kinematics introduces the terms displacement (s) and velocity (v) which may be very loosely considered as distance and speed involving direction respectively.
So instead of that headstrong cyclist/car/train in your E-Maths Kinematics who somehow lost its reverse gear and end up moving in only one direction, you’ll find in AMaths modern cars like Miss Loi’s (or more commonly ‘particles’) that can move back and forth like a maniac in opposite directions, with the following relationships between displacement (s), velocity (v) and acceleration (a):
P.S. Most of the above story is true, except the part on the flying underwear. Maybe Mother Nature was trying to tell us something on Earth Day 2009?
