What is the speed of the car in metres per second?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics homework problem involving calculations of speed, area, and density. The original poster expresses difficulty with the mathematical components of the questions, which include converting units and applying formulas related to speed and density.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the formula for speed as distance over time and suggest rearranging it for different parts of the problem. Some participants ask the original poster about their attempts and understanding of the concepts involved.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with some participants providing hints about unit conversion and dimensional analysis. There is a lack of explicit consensus, as the original poster continues to express confusion about the mathematical concepts.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions a time constraint for completing the homework and expresses anxiety about their mathematical skills, indicating a potential barrier to understanding the physics concepts presented.

Katie17
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Hey everyone,

Just wondering if anyone could help me with my physics homework. It's my first time ever doing physics and I was always terrible at maths. It needs to be in soon so I'm kind of freaking out :frown: If anyone could either show me how to answer these questions or even pm I'd be very grateful.

1. [a] The radius of a circle is 2mm. Write down an expression for its area A in scientific notation of the form A = a x 10 to the power of -b m to the power of -2, where a and b are constants.
A sphere of lead has a mass of 0.1 kg. If the density of lead is 11.3 x 10 to the power of 3 kg m to the power of -3, find the radius of the sphere [remembering that density = mass over volume]

2. [a] What is the speed in kilometres per second of a car traveling at a constant speed of 60 miles hr to the power of minus 1? [1 mile = 1.609 km]

What is the speed of the car in metres per second? [1km = 10 to the power of 3 m]

[c] What is the average speed for a trip of 157 km that requires 2.45 hr?
[d] How far in km will a car go in 3.5 hr at a constant speed of 95 km hr to the power of -1?

I know this might seem really easy to people who are into physics but to me this is really hard. :blushing:
 
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well for parts 2 a) b) and c) you could use speed = distance
--------
time
and then just rearrange the formula for d), that is how i would do that anyway! Hope it helps!
 
What have you tried on these? Have you at least had some ideas, even if they didn't work?

P.S. the typical way to write

a^b

in a text format is as a^b. (Make sure to use parentheses if your base or exponent are expressions, and not just a single symbol)
 
I can't even attempt them. Speed = distance?? :confused:

in a text format is as a^b. (Make sure to use parentheses if your base or exponent are expressions, and not just a single symbol)

I haven't got the slightest clue what you're trying to say. I've always been very slow when it comes to anything involving maths. I took a year out before college so even basic maths is dusty. Really going to be stuck if this is like a different language.
 
Katie17 said:
I can't even attempt them. Speed = distance?? :confused:



I haven't got the slightest clue what you're trying to say. I've always been very slow when it comes to anything involving maths. I took a year out before college so even basic maths is dusty. Really going to be stuck if this is like a different language.

Hurkyl meant that you can write 'a^b' instead 'a to the power of b'.
 
Oh okay :redface: thanks
 
and I think staceyw meant to write speed = \frac{distance}{time}
 
Actually #2 parts a and b are giving you a value in one type of units and asking you to convert it into another type of units. (This is sometimes called dimensional analysis.)

You want to set up a multiplication problem to cancel units, like so:
to get 3 weeks into days
\frac{3weeks}{1}\times\frac{7days}{1week}=21days

Do you see what happened? Take your value (in this case 3 weeks) and multiply it by a convenient form of 1(in this case 7days/1week). The weeks canceled, and you're left with days.
 

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