Science One Physics Assignment 1: written problem




Usain Bolt ran the fastest ever officially timed 100 meter race at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, finishing in 9.58 seconds. You can watch the race here:

Watch the race

Thanks to some modern technology, the location of Bolt as a function of time during the race is known relatively accurately, and that information is available to you using the special "Boltify" button (developed exclusively for Science One) . To find Usain Bolt's location (in meters from the starting line) at the 2009 Athletics World Championships 100m final, enter the time in seconds after the starting gun and click "Boltify":



Using this information, your job is to complete the following assignment. Explain your work.

1) Determine Usain Bolt's average velocity for the race.
2) Determine Usain Bolt's instantaneous velocity (in m/s) at t=5s, accurate to three decimal places.
3) Determine Bolt's instantaneous acceleration at t=9s, accurate to two significant figures.
4) What was Bolt's average acceleration for the race?
5) Make plots of the Usain Bolt's instantaneous velocity and acceleration vs time during the race. You can collaborate on this (i.e. have different people do the calculations for different times).

You are allowed to make the plots by hand on graph paper or use software.