Question

A student running a cross country race starts at a speed of 4 miles per hour and accelerates to 8 miles per hour in 2 seconds. Calculate her acceleration.

Answer 1

The acceleration of a student accelerating from 4 to 8 miles per hour in 2 seconds is calculated by first converting the speeds to meters per second and then applying the formula for acceleration, resulting in an acceleration of 1.79 meters per second squared.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the acceleration of a student who starts running at a speed of 4 miles per hour and accelerates to 8 miles per hour in 2 seconds, we need to convert the speeds into meters per second (since acceleration is typically measured in meters per second squared) and then use the formula for acceleration:

a = (v_f - v_i) / t

where:

• a is the acceleration,
• v_f is the final velocity,
• v_i is the initial velocity, and
• t is the time over which the acceleration occurs.

First, convert the speeds from miles per hour to meters per second:

1. 4 miles per hour is approximately 1.79 m/s,
2. 8 miles per hour is approximately 3.58 m/s.

Now we can use the formula with these values:

a = (3.58 m/s - 1.79 m/s) / 2 s = 1.79 m/s²

Therefore, the student's acceleration is 1.79 meters per second squared.