Racing animals
A hare and a tortoise compete in a race over a straight course 1.00 km long. The tortoise crawls at a speed of 0.200 m/s toward the finish line. The hare runs at a speed of 8.00 m/s toward the finish line for 0.800 km and then stops to tease the slow-moving tortoise as the tortoise eventually passes by. The hare waits for a while after the tortoise passes and then runs toward the finish line again at 8.00 m/s. Both the hare and the tortoise cross the finish line at the exact same instant. Assume both animals, when moving, move steadily at their respective speed. How far is the tortoise from the finish line when the hare resumes the race? *the answer is in METERS
The answer is 5.
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1 solution
Max steady speed of tortoise V1 = 0.200 m/s
Max speed of hare V2 = 8.00 m/s
Total length of journey D = 1.00 km = 1000 m
Distance covered by hare X = 800 m
Remaining distance has to be covered by hare to finish the race X(remain) = 1000m-800m = 200m
Time needed by hare to cover the remaining distance to complete the race t= X(remain) / V2= (200m) / (8.00 m/s) = 25.0 s
In this time t, the distance traveled by tortoise is D1 = (0.200m/s)*(25.0s) = 5m which is the distance the tortoise is from the finish line