Question

3. Let's suppose that when standing on the beach, you're hit by a small wave that is approximately 1.5m tall, and takes up an area that is roughly 5 meters out into the ocean, and 3 meters wide across the front of the beach (rectangular prism). Knowing that salt water has a density of 1025kg/m3, what was the mass of the water that just hit you? ​

Answer 1

The mass of the wave that hit you can be calculated using the volume of a rectangular prism (22.5m³) multiplied by the density of salt water (1025kg/m³), resulting in a mass of 23,062.5 kg of water.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the mass of salt water that hit you when standing on the beach, you would use the formula for the mass of a substance, which is mass (m) = volume (V) × density (ρ). From the question, the wave can be approximated as a rectangular prism 1.5 meters tall, 5 meters into the ocean, and 3 meters wide across the front of the beach. This gives a volume V = 1.5m × 5m × 3m = 22.5m³. Given that the density (ρ) of salt water is 1025kg/m³, the mass of the water that hit you would be m = 22.5m³ × 1025kg/m³.

m = 23,062.5 kg of salt water.