Posts Tagged ‘miles per hour’

Drag racing is an acceleration contest over a distance of a quarter of a mile. For a given total weight, the speed of a car at the end of the race is a function of the car’s power. For a total weight of 3500 pounds, the speed s (in miles per hour) can be modeled by s = 14.8 3 (or 3rd power) to the square root of p where p is the power (in horsepower). Graph the model. then determine the power of a car that reaches a speed of 100 miles per hour.

please show work because i have NO CLUE

Speed is measured relative to a stationary object. Velocity is determined by calculating the time it takes to travel a known distance from a stationary object. A cars speedometer measures speed relative to the stationary ground it is traveling on. An airplane measures speed by the same thing, by how long it takes to travel between points of a known distance on the ground.

So when it is said that a spacecraft is hurtling at 46,000 miles per hour beyond the orbit of Pluto towards the next star, what is that speed being compared against? In that part of space, there is no stationary object to calculate velocity. Is it still being compared to a stationary object on the surface of the Earth? At that distance, the Earth is traveling through space in orbit around the sun, which is traveling in orbit around the galaxy, which is traveling through space around who knows what.

So, what is the spacecraft traveling at 46,000 miles per hour from or towards that can be measured?