Question

A bug walking on the circular rim of a flower

pot completes one lap around the planter in
8.667 s.
If the radius of the planter is 13.9 cm, how
fast was it traveling?

Answer 1

Given parameters;

Time taken to complete a lap = 8.667s

Radius of flower = 13.9cm

convert to SI unit of m, 100cm = 1m

13.9cm gives
`(13.9)/(100)` = 0.139m

Unknown = speed

To solve this problem, we need to first find the circumference of the flower.

Circumference of the circular flower = 2 π r

where r is the radius of the flower;

Circumference = 2 x 3.142 x 0.139 = 0.87m

Now to find the how fast the bug is travelling,

Speed =
`(distance)/(time)`

Since the bug covered 1 lap, the distance is 0.87m

Now input the parameters and solve for speed;

Speed =
`(0.87)/(8.667)` = 0.1m/s

The bug is travelling at a speed of 0.1m/s