Question

A sports car can accelerate to its maximum speed of 270.0 mph from rest in 11.25 seconds. (Assume that the car is moving in the positive x-direction and note that: mph = miles per hour and 1 mile = 1609 meters)

Express the maximum speed of the sports car in m/s.
a. 120.77
b. 167.87
c. 72.0
d. 121.14

Answer 1

The sports car's maximum speed of 270.0 mph is equivalent to 120.77 m/s when converted using the conversion factors of time and distance. (option a is the correct answer).

Step-by-step explanation:

To convert the maximum speed of the sports car from miles per hour to meters per second, you can use the conversion factor that 1 mile is equivalent to 1609 meters. The calculation is as follows:

First, convert the speed from miles per hour to miles per second by dividing by 3600 (the number of seconds in an hour).

Next, convert miles per second to meters per second by multiplying by 1609 (the number of meters in a mile).

So the calculation is:

Maximum speed in m/s = (270.0 mi/h) × (1 h / 3600 s) × (1609 m / mi) This equals:

Maximum speed in m/s = 120.75 m/s (rounded to two decimal places)

The closest answer from the options provided is 120.77 m/s, which means the correct answer to the question is (a) 120.77 m/s.