Question

Nerve impulses in a human body travel at a speed of about 100 m/s. Suppose a woman accidentally steps barefoot on a thumbtack. About how much time does it take the nerve impulse to travel from the foot to the brain (in s)? Assume the woman is 1.60 m tall and the nerve impulse travels at uniform speed._______ s

Answer 1

Given:

The speed of the nerve impulse in a human body is: v = 100 m/s

The height of the woman is: d = 1.60 m

To find:

Time taken by nerve impulses to travel from the foot to the brain.

Step-by-step explanation:

We assume that the nerve impulse travels at a uniform speed.

The speed "v" is given as:

`v=(d)/(t)`

Rearranging the above equation, we get:

`t=(d)/(v)`

Substituting the values in the above equation, we get:

`\begin{gathered} t=\frac{1.60\text{ m}}{100\text{ m/s}} \\ \\ t=0.016\text{ s} \end{gathered}`

Final answer:

Thus, a nerve impulse takes 0.016 seconds to travel from foot to brain.