Motion/acceleration problem?

Question

One swimmer in a relay race has a .50-s lead and is swimming at a constant speed of 5 m/s. He has 50 m to swim before reaching the end of the pool. A second swimmer moves in the same direction as the leader. What constant speed must the second swimmer have in order to catch up to the leader at the end of the pool?

Answer 1

Let

T1 = time of the first swimmer to reach the end of the pool

T1 = distance/speed = 50/5 = 10 sec.

T2 = time of the 2nd swimmer to negotiate 50 meters

Since the second swimmer is 0.5 sec behind, then he has to negotiate the 50 m distance in 9.5 seconds.

Therefore, the second swimmer's speed = 50/9.5 = 5.26 m/sec.

Hope this helps.