Question

A factory conveyor belt rolls at 3 m/s. A mouse sees a piece of cheese directly across the belt and heads straight for the cheese at 4 m/s. What is the mouse's speed relative to the factory floor?

Answer 1

Answer:

The speed of the mouse relative to the factory floor is 5 m/s.

Explanation:

Given that,

A factory conveyor belt rolls at 3 m/s, $v_1=3\ m/s$

A mouse sees a piece of cheese directly across the belt and heads straight for the cheese at 4 m/s, $v_2=4\ m/s$

To find,

The mouse's speed relative to the factory floor.

Solution,

The resultant velocity of the mouse is given by the resultant of two velocities. It is given by :

$v=\sqrt{v_1^2+v_2^2}$

$v=\sqrt{3^2+4^2}$

v = 5 m/s

So, the speed of the mouse relative to the factory floor is 5 m/s.