Question

A steam engine for pulling trains has wheels of diameter 1.5 metres.

The steam engine travels 1000 metres along a test track.

Work out the number of complete turns of a wheel.

Answer 1

The wheel completed a total of 212 turns.

Explanation:

A wheel has a circular form, therefore its length is given by the following formula:

`length = 2*\pi*radius`

Where radius is half the diameter. Applying the data from the problem to calculate the length of the wheel gives us:

`length = 2*\pi*((1.5)/(2))\\length = 1.5*\pi = 4.7124`

Since the engine traveled a distance of 1000 metres and each turn of the wheel has 4.7124 metres, in order to calculate the number of turns the wheel made in that course we need to divide both numbers as shown below:

`turns = (1000)/(4.7124) = 212.21`

The wheel completed a total of 212 turns.