ShmoopTube

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Here's a shmoopy question, comin' at ya...

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Jenny, world record holder in the Segway 500, is pumped and ready to defend her title.

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During the race, her average speed is 13 mph.

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Now that's some good TV.

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What was Jenny's approximate average speed in feet per second?

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And here are the potential answers...

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So this question is of a rate-distance-time flavor, which presumes that we know that there

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are about 5,300 feet in a mile.

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It's also testing us on units conversion, because the ANSWER is in feet per second -- not

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miles per hour. The problem itself is pretty straightforward

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though, once we get the units right.

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If Jenny is going 13 MILES per hour, she is going 13 times 5,300 feet per hour...

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or 69,000 FEET per hour.

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But the questions asks not per HOUR but per second -- so we have to convert hours to minutes.

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...60 of those minute things in an hour...

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...and since there are 60 seconds in a minute...

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...we multiply 60 by 60 and get 3,600.

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So now divide the 69,000 by 3,600 and we get 19.1...

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...which is her rate in feet per second or answer... D.

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That's some speedy segwayin', Jenny.

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What a thrillseeker.

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