Question

A snail moved 80 cm (80 centimeters) in 5 minutes. What was its average speed in SI units? Write out the factors as was done above.

Short answer

Average speed in SI units is $2.667\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of the average speed

The average speed of a moving body is computed by dividing the entire distance travelled by the total time it takes to travel that distance which is given by,

$\mathrm{Average}\mathrm{speed}=\frac{\mathrm{Total}\mathrm{Distance}}{\mathrm{Total}\mathrm{Time}\mathrm{taken}}$

Average speed and average velocity are two different terms.

Calculation of average speed

From the given information, the distance travelled is d = 80 cm and the time taken is t = 5 min.

Divide the distance by time to get the average speed.

$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{v}=\frac{80}{5} \\ =16\mathrm{cm}/\min \end{gathered}$$

Divide the obtained result by 60 seconds and 100 cm to convert the unit into meter per second.

$\left(16\frac{\mathrm{cm}}{\min }\right)\left(\frac{1\min }{60\mathrm{s}}\right)\left(\frac{1\mathrm{m}}{100\mathrm{cm}}\right)=2.667\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$

Therefore, the average speed in SI units is $2.667\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$.