Question

An olympian swam the 200-meter freestyle at a speed of 1.8 meters per second. An olympic runner ran the 200-meter dash in 21.3 seconds. How much faster was the runner’s speed than the swimmer’s speed to the nearest tenth of a meter per second? 0.1 meters per second 0.4 meters per second 7.6 meters per second 9.4 meters per second

Answer 1

7.6 meters per second

Explanation:

Step 1: Find the runner's speed:

Distance equals the product of rate and time:

Distance = rate * time

d = rt

Since the runner ran a 200-meter dash in 21.3 seconds, we can substitute these values for d and t in the distance-rate-time equation to find the runner's speed (r):

(200 = 21.3r) / 21.3

9.389671362 = r

Thus, the runner's speed 9389671362

• Note I didn't round at this intermediate step, since the problem already wants us to round our final answer and rounding now can affect our final answer.
• On a calculator, you could type (200/21.3) to represent the runner's speed for convenience.

Step 2: Find the difference in the swimmer and runner's speeds:

Now we can determine how much faster was the runner's speed than the swimmer's speed by subtract 1.8 (i.e,. the swimmer's speed) from 9.389671362 (i.e., the runner's speed):

Difference = runner's speed - swimmer's speed

Difference = 9.389671362 - 1.8

Difference = 7.589671362

Difference = 7.6

Thus, the runner's speed was approximately 7.6 meters per second faster than the swimmer's speed.