Jerry is running away from Tom, who is 5 meters behind, at a speed of 2.5 meters per second. To catch Jerry before he reaches his hiding spot that is 10 meters ahead, what must Tom's minimum speed be?
5 meters per second
3.75 meters per second
7.5 meters per second
1.25 meters per second
Ten meters ahead of Jerry I guess
How long will Jerry take to get there?
10 meters * 1 second / 2.5 meters = 4 seconds (pathetic speed :(
so
Tom must do 15 meters in 4 seconds
15 meters / 4 seconds = 3.75 meters / second
Well, you do not ask old retired physics professors to do your tests do you?
no and this is now called algebra 1 and I suck at it
thank you i need help with everything on the test tho
Well, Tom certainly has his work cut out for him! To catch Jerry before he reaches his hiding spot, Tom's minimum speed must be greater than Jerry's speed of 2.5 meters per second. So, the correct answer is "7.5 meters per second." Tom better kick it into high gear if he wants to have any chance of catching Jerry!
To solve this problem, we need to determine the minimum speed at which Tom must run in order to catch Jerry before he reaches his hiding spot.
First, let's calculate the time it takes for Jerry to reach his hiding spot. We can use the formula time = distance / speed.
The distance to Jerry's hiding spot is 10 meters, and his speed is 2.5 meters per second. Therefore, the time it takes Jerry to reach his hiding spot is 10 meters / 2.5 meters per second = 4 seconds.
Now, let's calculate how far Tom is behind Jerry when Jerry reaches his hiding spot. Tom is initially 5 meters behind Jerry, and Jerry takes 4 seconds to reach his hiding spot. Therefore, the distance between Tom and Jerry when Jerry reaches his hiding spot is 5 meters + (2.5 meters per second × 4 seconds) = 5 meters + 10 meters = 15 meters.
To catch Jerry before he reaches his hiding spot, Tom needs to cover a distance of 15 meters. Tom has a head start of 5 meters, so he needs to run an additional distance of 15 meters - 5 meters = 10 meters.
Now, let's calculate the time it takes for Tom to cover this additional distance of 10 meters. We can use the formula time = distance / speed.
The distance Tom needs to cover is 10 meters, and we need to find the minimum speed at which he must run. Therefore, the formula becomes speed = distance / time.
The time it takes for Tom to cover the additional distance is given by time = distance / speed = 10 meters / speed.
We need to find the minimum speed at which Tom must run, so we rearrange the formula to solve for speed: speed = distance / time = 10 meters / time.
Using the formula we derived, we can substitute the known time value of 4 seconds:
speed = 10 meters / 4 seconds = 2.5 meters per second.
Therefore, Tom's minimum speed must be 2.5 meters per second in order to catch Jerry before he reaches his hiding spot.
So the correct answer is 2.5 meters per second.