Question

The skid marks for a car involved in an accident measured 216ft. Use the formula s=24d−−−√ to find the speed, s, of the car before the brakes were applied.

Answer 1

To calculate the car's speed using the given formula s = 24√d and the skid mark distance of 216 feet, we found the square root of 216 to be 14.7 and then multiplied by 24 to get a speed of 352.8 mph, which seems to be an error.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student has provided the formula s = 24√d, where s is the speed of the car in miles per hour and d is the distance of the skid marks in feet. To find the speed of the car before the brakes were applied, we substitute the given distance of skid marks, which is 216 feet, into the formula.

First, we calculate the square root of the skid mark distance:

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• √216 = 14.7

Now, we use this value to find the speed:

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• s = 24 × 14.7 = 352.8

Therefore, the speed of the car before the brakes were applied was 352.8 mph, which is quite unrealistic for conventional cars and likely indicates an error in the use of the provided formula or the interpretation of the scenario.