Final answer:
The question asks whether a coach's new stopwatch would be useful for timing a sprint team given the tight finish times in a track meet. The precision of timing instruments is critical in both sprinting and drag racing. A precise stopwatch would indeed be helpful to accurately measure sprint times and enhance performance analysis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the efficacy of a coach's new stopwatch for timing a sprint team based on the close finish times of a school's last track meet. In high-speed events like sprinting or drag racing, even hundredths of a second can determine the winner, as seen with the first-place sprinter's time of 12.04 s and the second-place sprinter's at 12.07 s. Therefore, a precise and accurate stopwatch is crucial.
The sport of drag racing focuses on acceleration where cars compete on a quarter-mile (402 m) track from a standing start, implying that timing instruments have to measure very short intervals to capture the critical aspects of the race. The need for accuracy is highlighted by the fact that top-notch dragsters can cover the distance in impressively short times, well under 5.56 s.
Given these requirements for precision, the new stopwatch would indeed be helpful for timing the sprint team, assuming it is capable of measuring time to at least the hundredth of a second. This would allow the coach to record similarly tight finishes and provide accurate feedback for performance improvements. Precision in timing is important, not just in track sports, but also in understanding the performance specs and achievements in motor sports like drag racing.