Final answer:
To find the distance traveled by a passenger during a ride on a Ferris wheel, calculate the circumference of the wheel, multiply it by the number of rotations and duration of the ride. In this case, the passenger will travel approximately 1,978 feet during a 5-minute ride.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the distance traveled by a passenger during a ride on a Ferris wheel, we need to calculate the circumference of the wheel and multiply it by the number of rotations. The formula to calculate the circumference of a circle is C = 2πr, where r is the radius. Since the diameter is given, we can find the radius by dividing it by 2. In this case, the diameter is 42 feet, so the radius is 21 feet. The circumference, therefore, is 2π × 21.
Next, we need to multiply the circumference by the number of rotations per minute and by the duration of the ride in minutes. In this case, the wheel rotates 3 times per minute and the ride lasts for 5 minutes. So, the distance traveled by a passenger during a 5-minute ride is 3 × 5 × 2π × 21 feet.
Calculating this expression gives us the answer: the passenger will travel approximately 1,978 feet during a 5-minute ride on the Ferris wheel.
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