
Jiamin C.
asked 02/22/24Computing average speed: swimmer problem
A swimmer jumps into a river that is flowing with a constant speed of v= 3 m/s. The
swimmer, starting at some point swims downstream a distance D and back upstream the
same distance to the same point they started from, as measured by the ground. Determine
the average speed of the swimmer during this round trip swim, as measured by the ground,
if the speed of the swimmer as measured by the water during this round trip is a constant
u=5 m/s. Assume it takes no time for the swimmer to go from swimming downstream to
swimming upstream.
1 Expert Answer

Stanton D. answered 02/26/24
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Stanton D.
That's all well and good, just use net speeds up- and downsteam to figure times and therefore average speed. However, I'll bet you've never tried to swim 5 m s^-1. The current Olympic men's 50m freestyle speed record is about 2.4 m s^-1. Talk about a sweep!02/23/24