Question

what if the driver of the ferrari 550 was cruising along and suddenly hit the brakes to stop because she saw a cat in the road? she skidded to a stop and, fortunately, missed the cat. when she got out of the car she measured the skid marks left by the car so she knew that her braking distance was 31 ft.
a. how fast was she going when she hit the brakes?
d(s)=0.03s²
31 = 0.03s²

Explanation:

Step1: Identify the skid - distance formula

The formula for skid - distance $d(s)=0.03s^{2}$, where $d(s)$ is the skid - distance in feet and $s$ is the speed in miles per hour.

Step2: Substitute the given skid - distance into the formula

We know that $d(s) = 31$ ft. So, we set up the equation $31=0.03s^{2}$.

Step3: Solve for $s$

First, divide both sides of the equation by $0.03$: $\frac{31}{0.03}=s^{2}$. Then $s^{2}=\frac{31}{0.03}\approx1033.33$. Take the square root of both sides. Since speed cannot be negative in this context, $s=\sqrt{\frac{31}{0.03}}\approx\sqrt{1033.33}\approx32.15$ mph.

Answer:

She was going approximately $32.15$ mph when she hit the brakes.