1.3 Time, velocity, and speed  (Page 5/12)

On May 26, 1934, a streamlined, stainless steel diesel train called the Zephyr set the world's nonstop long-distance speed record for trains. Its run from Denver to Chicago took 13 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds, and was witnessed by more than a million people along the route. The total distance traveled was 1633.8 km. What was its average speed in km/h and m/s?

Tidal friction is slowing the rotation of the Earth. As a result, the orbit of the Moon is increasing in radius at a rate of approximately 4 cm/year. Assuming this to be a constant rate, how many years will pass before the radius of the Moon's orbit increases by $3\text{.}\text{84}\times {\text{10}}^6\mathrm{m}$ (1%)?

A student drove to the university from her home and noted that the odometer reading of her car increased by 12.0 km. The trip took 18.0 min. (a) What was her average speed? (b) If the straight-line distance from her home to the university is 10.3 km in a direction $\text{25}\text{.}\mathrm{0º}$ south of east, what was her average velocity? (c) If she returned home by the same path 7 h 30 min after she left, what were her average speed and velocity for the entire trip?

The speed of propagation of the action potential (an electrical signal) in a nerve cell depends (inversely) on the diameter of the axon (nerve fiber). If the nerve cell connecting the spinal cord to your feet is 1.1 m long, and the nerve impulse speed is 18 m/s, how long does it take for the nerve signal to travel this distance?

Conversations with astronauts on the lunar surface were characterized by a kind of echo in which the earthbound person's voice was so loud in the astronaut's space helmet that it was picked up by the astronaut's microphone and transmitted back to Earth. It is reasonable to assume that the echo time equals the time necessary for the radio wave to travel from the Earth to the Moon and back (that is, neglecting any time delays in the electronic equipment). Calculate the distance from Earth to the Moon given that the echo time was 2.56 s and that radio waves travel at the speed of light $(3\text{.}\text{00}\times {\text{10}}^8\text{m/s})$ .

A football quarterback runs 15.0 m straight down the playing field in 2.50 s. He is then hit and pushed 3.00 m straight backward in 1.75 s. He breaks the tackle and runs straight forward another 21.0 m in 5.20 s. Calculate his average velocity (a) for each of the three intervals and (b) for the entire motion.

The planetary model of the atom pictures electrons orbiting the atomic nucleus much as planets orbit the Sun. In this model you can view hydrogen, the simplest atom, as having a single electron in a circular orbit $1\text{.}\text{06}\times {\text{10}}^{-\text{10}}\text{m}$ in diameter. (a) If the average speed of the electron in this orbit is known to be $2\text{.}\text{20}\times {\text{10}}^6\text{m/s}$ , calculate the number of revolutions per second it makes about the nucleus. (b) What is the electron's average velocity?

A group of students has two carts, A and B , with wheels that turn with negligible friction. The two carts travel along a straight horizontal track and eventually collide. Before the collision, cart A travels to the right and cart B is initially at rest. After the collision, the carts stick together.

1. Describe an experimental procedure to determine the velocities of the carts before and after the collision, including all the additional equipment you would need. You may include a labeled diagram of your setup to help in your description. Indicate what measurements you would take and how you would take them. Include enough detail so that another student could carry out your procedure.
2. There will be sources of error in the measurements taken in the experiment both before and after the collision. Which velocity will be more greatly affected by this error: the velocity prior to the collision or the velocity after the collision? Or will both sets of data be affected equally? Justify your answer.