Three elephants are standing on a very strong bridge. The bridge happens to have marks at every meter along the way. Elephant #1 is standing at 4m and starts walking. He walks for... Three elephants are standing on a very strong bridge. The bridge happens to have marks at every meter along the way. Elephant #1 is standing at 4m and starts walking. He walks for 30 seconds and after 30 seconds, the elephant is at the place on the bridge marked 64 meters. What is Elephant #1’s speed?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking to find the speed of Elephant #1 based on his walking distance and time. We know he starts at 4 meters and walks for 30 seconds to a position marked at 64 meters.
Answer
The speed of Elephant #1 is $2 \text{ m/s}$.
Answer for screen readers
The speed of Elephant #1 is $2 \text{ m/s}$.
Steps to Solve
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Calculate Total Distance Walked To find Elephant #1's speed, we first determine how far he walked. He starts at 4 meters and ends at 64 meters. The distance walked is: $$ \text{Distance} = 64 \text{ m} - 4 \text{ m} = 60 \text{ m} $$
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Identify Time of Travel The time that Elephant #1 walked is provided as 30 seconds.
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Calculate Speed Speed is calculated using the formula: $$ \text{Speed} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Time}} $$ Substituting the values we found: $$ \text{Speed} = \frac{60 \text{ m}}{30 \text{ s}} = 2 \text{ m/s} $$
The speed of Elephant #1 is $2 \text{ m/s}$.
More Information
The speed is a measure of how quickly an object changes its position. In this case, the elephant covered a significant distance in a relatively short amount of time, illustrating basic principles of motion.
Tips
- Miscalculating the distance by not subtracting the starting position from the ending position.
- Confusing units of measurement; ensure the distance and time are in compatible units (meters and seconds).
