comparing the surface area of a sphere with its volume and assuming that air resistance is proportional to the square of velocity, it is possible to make a heuristic argument to support the following premise. For similarly shaped objects, terminal velocity varies in proportion to the square root of length. Expressed in the formula below, where L is length, T is terminal velocity, and k is a constant that depends on shape, among other things. This relation can be used to help explain why small mammals easily survive falls that would seriously injure or kill a human. T = kL0.5 (a) A 5 foot woman is 20 times as long as a 3-inch mouse (neglecting the tail). How does the terminal velocity of the woman compare with that of a mouse? Express to 2 decimal places. The terminal velocity of the woman is

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Chapter3: Polynomial Functions
Section3.5: Mathematical Modeling And Variation
Problem 7ECP: The kinetic energy E of an object varies jointly with the object’s mass m and the square of the...
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By comparing the surface area of a sphere with its volume and assuming that air resistance is proportional to the square of velocity, it is possible to make a heuristic argument to support the following premise. For similarly shaped objects, terminal velocity varies in proportion to the square root of length. Expressed in the formula below, where L is length, T is terminal velocity, and k is a constant that depends on shape, among other things. This relation can be used to help explain why small mammals easily survive falls that would seriously injure or kill a human.

T = kL0.5
(a) A 5 foot woman is 20 times as long as a 3-inch mouse (neglecting the tail). How does the terminal velocity of the woman compare with that of a mouse? Express to 2 decimal places.
The terminal velocity of the woman is times that of the mouse.

(b) If the 5 foot woman has a terminal velocity of 140 miles per hour, what is the terminal velocity of the 3 inch mouse? Express to tenths.
miles per hour

(c) Neglecting the tail, a squirrel is about 6 inches long. What is the terminal velocity of a squirrel? Express to 2 decimal places.
Hint: Refer to part (b).
miles per hour
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