Traveling 60mph, is it really 88 feet/second?

[jakksincorpse]

i was bored driving home today and i was driving 60mph, factory standard tires and rims so the speedometer is correct

in calculation 88 feet per second equals up to 60mph. but in the real world. driving on the highway that sounds very outlandish... my guess would be at most 40 some feet.

why is that?

 

[Dickfore]

It has something to do with your psyche. Other than that, I can't find any other reasonable answer.

 

[jakksincorpse]

sounds reasonable. the more i think about the length of a football field the more 88 feet seems more realistic. because that'd be close from the 0 yard line to the 30 yard line.

 

[Lambduh]

I figured it was about right but instead of multiplying it out i got lazy and used alpha like i do more and more these days. I have a hard time grasping what feels right at pretty much any speed :P But then again i run pretty slow.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=60mph in feet per second

 

[Mu naught]

Your disbelief probably comes from having a poor sense of how long a second is. People tend to think one second is the time it takes to say "one" or the snap of their fingers or something.

 

[Dickfore]

Your disbelief probably comes from having a poor sense of how long a second is. People tend to think one second is the time it takes to say "one" or the snap of their fingers or something.

It's approximately the time it takes to fully say 'twenty one'.

 

[poprocks4]

one third of a football field is a little more than 88 ft. Also, the average running speed is about 20fps

 

[SonyAD]

I often find myself spacing out while driving. It's like the car's on autopilot and I'm watching a movie projector. Someone else is taking care of everything. From downshifts to signaling.

My impression, not perception, of speed has also certainly dulled over the years.

 

[AJ Bentley]

Yup!

One of the first numbers I learned.

 

[Lsos]

I often find myself spacing out while driving. It's like the car's on autopilot and I'm watching a movie projector. Someone else is taking care of everything. From downshifts to signaling.

My impression, not perception, of speed has also certainly dulled over the years.

There are cars that you drive, and there are cars that drive you. I suggests getting the kind that you drive. It can change a morning commute from being too long to being too short!

http://www.moroccangoldimports.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/s2000-drift-1024x480.jpg

 

[SonyAD]

Well, this is what I drive:

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/6033/img1261p.jpg

It's not German.

 

[Dickfore]

Neither is the car on the picture above your post.

 

[nuclear-boy]

oh my god! i see where your coming from, i would have thought more like 5 feet/second!

omg, omg, omg!

 

[SonyAD]

Neither is the car on the picture above your post.

I like French diesels.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9962/img1254x.jpg
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7563/img2590i.jpg