Question

A microbiologist measures the speed of a swimming bacterium. The 2bacterium covers a distance of 6.82microns in 3.5 seconds. The biologist wished to compare the speed of the bacteria with other animals, but thespeeds of other animals are listed in kilometers per hour. What is the speed of the bacterium in kilometers perhour? (1 micron 1x 10-6 m) Use scientific notation and express your answer to the correct number Please help

Answer 1

Given:

The distance covered by bacterium is d=6.82 microns.

The time taken to cover the distance is t=3.5 s.

The speed of bacterium is given as,

`v=(d)/(t)`

Substitute the given values,

`\begin{gathered} v=\frac{(6.82\text{ microns)}}{(3.5\text{ s)}}(\frac{1*10^(-6)\text{ m}}{1\text{ micron}})(\frac{1\text{ km}}{1000\text{ m}})(\frac{60\text{ s}}{1\text{ min}})(\frac{60\text{ min}}{1\text{ h}}) \\ =7.01*10^(-6)\text{ km/h} \end{gathered}`

Thus, the speed of bacterium is

`7.01*10^(-6)\text{ km/h}`