Question

The "escape velocity" from Earth (the speed required to escape Earth's gravity) is 2.5 × 104 miles per hour. What is this speed in m/s? (1 mile = 1609 m)

Answer 1

Answer:

2.5 × 10⁴ mi/h = 1.1 × 10⁴ m/s

Explanation:

Hi there!

We have the following equivalencies:

1 mile = 1609 m

1 hour = 3600 s

Then to convert miles to meters, we can multiply the given quantity in miles by ( 1609 m/ 1 mile) and we will obtain the same quantity in meters. In the same way, if we want to convert hours into seconds, we can multiply the given quantity in hours by (3600 s/ 1 hour) and we will obtain seconds.

Let´s convert miles per hour into m/s:

$2.5*10^{4} \frac{mi}{h} (\frac{1609m}{1mi})(\frac{1h}{3600s})$ = 1.1 × 10⁴ m/s  (notice how the units mi and h cancel)