A bug walking on the circular rim of a flower
pot completes one lap around the planter in
17.27 s.
If the radius of the planter is 10.7 cm, how
fast was it traveling?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Hey, 

This can be solved like any average velocity question with a simple distance divided by time equation, 

To figure out the distance you need only calculate the circumference of the flower pot using the following equation:

$$2\pi r = Circumference = Distance$$ Where r is the radius.
$$Distance = 2\times \pi \times0.107 metres = 0.67 metres$$

Once you have your distance just divide by the time taken and this will give the speed, as shown below,


$$Speed = Distance (m) \div Time (s) = 0.67m \div 17.27s = 0.04m/s $$

Remember always to convert your units into SI units, such as centimetres into metres otherwise your calculations will be wrong. Also somethign physics/maths teachers love is when you derive an equation and only put your numbers in at the end, so you could also solve your problem like so,

$$2\pi r \div Time = Speed$$

Hope this helps