Kinematics Problem Solving

1. Draw a motion-diagram
2. Draw a pictorial-representation
3. Make a table of all symbol values that are known from the problem or can be easily figured out from the geometry. Check that signs are consistent with the motion diagram. List known relationships as well, such as $v_1=v_2$. Do unit conversions at this point to get everything into a consistent set of units.
4. Use the ideas from the kinematic-overview to create a mathematical representation of the problem
5. Use kinematic-overview equations to solve a mathematical representation