Cars a and b are racing each other along the same straight road in following manner: car a has a head start and is a distance da beyond the starting line at t=0. the starting line is at x=0. car a travels at a constant speed va. car b starts at the starting line but has a better engine than car a, and thus car b travels at a constant speed vb, which is greater than va.(a) how long after car b started the race will car b catch up with car a? (b) how far from car b's starting line will the cars be when car b passes car a?

Simon is writing a story about an astronaut whose spacecraft has been boarded by space pirates. the astronaut has her lucky penny in her hand behind her back as the space pirates break into the control room. she has just locked the controls so that the ship is accelerating in the direction of the control room’s ceiling. simon wants the astronaut to use the penny to hit a button on the control panel to turn off the lights and escape. the button is located a short distance behind and below the astronaut’s hands. how should simon use the theory of relativity to describe what the astronaut must do in order to hit the button?