23 mr. wright contested a speeding ticket he received after he applied his brakes and skidded to a halt to…

23 mr. wright contested a speeding ticket he received after he applied his brakes and skidded to a halt to avoid rear ending another car. in traffic court, mr. wright argued that the length of the skid marks on the pavement, 150 feet, proved that he was driving under the posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour. the ticket cited his speed at 70 miles per hour. use the formula $\frac{1}{24}s^{2}=d$, where $s$ is the speed of his car and $d$ is the length of the skid marks, to determine mr. wrights speed when he applied the brakes. was mr. wright correct in claiming that he was not speeding when he applied the brakes?

23 mr. wright contested a speeding ticket he received after he applied his brakes and skidded to a halt to avoid rear ending another car. in traffic court, mr. wright argued that the length of the skid marks on the pavement, 150 feet, proved that he was driving under the posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour. the ticket cited his speed at 70 miles per hour. use the formula $\frac{1}{24}s^{2}=d$, where $s$ is the speed of his car and $d$ is the length of the skid marks, to determine mr. wrights speed when he applied the brakes. was mr. wright correct in claiming that he was not speeding when he applied the brakes?

Answer

Explanation:

Step1: Substitute d=150 into formula

$$\frac{1}{24}s^2 = 150$$

Step2: Isolate $s^2$ by multiplying by 24

$$s^2 = 150 \times 24 = 3600$$

Step3: Solve for s via square root

$$s = \sqrt{3600} = 60$$

Answer:

Mr. Wright's speed when applying the brakes was 60 miles per hour. Since 60 mph is less than the posted 65 mph speed limit, he was correct in claiming he was not speeding.