Question

The speed of a nerve impulse in the human body is about 100 m/s. If you accidentally stub you toe in the dark, estimate the time it takes the nerve impulse to travel to your brain. (Assume that you are approximately 1.6 m tall and that the nerve impulse travels at uniform speed.)

Answer 1

Answer:

0.02 s

Explanation:

Take the (+x) direction to be up.  

The average velocity v during a time interval Δt is the displacement Δx divided by Δt.  

v=Δx/Δt

 =x_f-x_i/t_f-t_i                 (1)

We assume that your height is 1.6m  

Solving [1]

Δt=Δx/v

  = 0.02 s