Question

Find the average velocity of a runner that starts 100 metres south of town and finishes 3000 metres north of town after 30.0 minutes. Give your answer in m/s.

Answer 1

The average velocity of the runner is 1.7 m/s to the north, calculated by dividing the total displacement by the total time taken and rounding off to two significant figures.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the average velocity of a runner, we need to determine the total displacement and the total time taken. The runner starts 100 meters south of town and finishes 3000 meters north of town. This gives a total displacement of 3000 meters north - (-100 meters south) = 3100 meters north. Since the runner took 30.0 minutes, we need to convert this time into seconds (1 minute = 60 seconds) to work with standard SI units, resulting in 30.0 minutes * 60 seconds/minute = 1800 seconds.

Now, using the formula for average velocity v = displacement/time, we get:

v = 3100 m / 1800 s = 1.7222 m/s

We can round this off to two significant figures due to the time being given to two significant figures, giving us an average velocity of 1.7 m/s to the north.