Finding distance in a race based on speed

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To determine the distance by which the runner won the race, the key is to calculate the difference in speed between the two runners. The winning runner's speed is 8.475 m/s, while the other runner's speed is 8.474 m/s, resulting in a relative speed of 0.001 m/s. This relative speed needs to be multiplied by the time difference of 0.001 seconds to find the distance won. Therefore, the distance won can be calculated as 0.001 m/s multiplied by 0.001 s, which equals 0.000001 m, or 1 mm. The discussion emphasizes the importance of correctly interpreting speed and time to find the distance won in a race.
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Homework Statement


You nose out another runner to win the 100.000 m dash. If your total time for the race was 11.800 s and you aced out the other runner by 0.001 s, by how many meters did you win?

Homework Equations


a = v-v0 / t


The Attempt at a Solution


So i found the acceleration of both the runners and took the difference between their accelerations. Now what do i do to find the distance the runner won by?
100 m / 11.801 s = 8.474 m/s
100 m /11.800 s = 8.475 m/s
8.475 m/s - 8.474 m/s = 0.001 m/s
 
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hi bling-bling! :smile:
bling-bling said:
So i found the acceleration of both the runners and took the difference between their accelerations. Now what do i do to find the distance the runner won by?
100 m / 11.801 s = 8.474 m/s
100 m /11.800 s = 8.475 m/s
8.475 m/s - 8.474 m/s = 0.001 m/s

(i think you mean "speed", not "acceleration" :wink:)

0.001 m/s is the relative speed, sooo … ? :smile:

(btw, won't you need more than 4 https://www.physicsforums.com/library.php?do=view_item&itemid=523" in your intermediate steps if you want reasonable accuracy after subtracting? :wink:)
 
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so the 0.001 is not the distance that the runner won by? if not, how do i figure that out?
 
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