3. A biologist measures the speed of a paramecium as it moves across a microscope slide. It travels 1.2 inches in 3.25 seconds. The biologist wishes to compare the speed of the paramecium with the speeds of other animals, but the speeds of other animals are listed in metric units of m/s and km/hr . What is the speed of the paramecium in both m/s and km/hr Show all work and use appropriate significant figures. cnch = 2.54 cm )

Respuesta :

Answer:

in meters per second: 0.0094 m/s

in kilometers per hour: 0.0038  km/hr

Explanation:

We start by reducing 1.2 inches to meters to produce this speed in m/s:

1.2 in = 2.54 * 1.2 = 3.048 cm = 0.03048 m

we use the formula for speed:

speed = distance / time = 0.03048 / 3.25 = 0.0093785 m/s

and since the measured value with less number of significant figures is 1.2 inches (which has two significant figures), we reduce our result to two significant figures: 0.0094 m/s

In order to write it in km/h, we complete the reduction to km from meters;  1 m = 0.001 km and the reduction of seconds to hours: 1 s = 1/3600  hr  and replace it in the velocity:

0.0093785  0.001  *  3600  km/hr = 0.0037626 km/hr

which rounded to two significant figures becomes:  0.0038  km/hr