During the first seconds after takeoff, a rocket traveled 208 kilometers in 50 minutes at a constant rate. Suppose a penny is dropped from a skyscraper and travels 153 kilometers in 5 hours at a constant rate. Which of these objects has a faster speed per hour? And by how much?

To compare the speeds of the rocket and the penny and find out which object has a faster speed per hour, we need to calculate their respective speeds using the formula for speed, which is:

Speed = Distance / Time

For the rocket: Distance = 208 kilometers Time = 50 minutes

First, we need to convert the time from minutes to hours since we want the speed in kilometers per hour. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so:

Time in hours = Time in minutes / 60 Time in hours = 50 / 60 Time in hours = 5/6 or approximately 0.833 hours

Now, let's calculate the speed: Speed of rocket = Distance / Time Speed of rocket = 208 km / (5/6) hours Speed of rocket = 208 km / 0.833 hours Speed of rocket ≈ 249.7 km/hour

For the penny: Distance = 153 kilometers Time = 5 hours

The penny's speed is straightforward to calculate since the time is already given in hours: Speed of penny = Distance / Time Speed of penny = 153 km / 5 hours Speed of penny = 30.6 km/hour

Comparing the speeds: The speed of the rocket is 249.7 km/hour and the speed of the penny is 30.6 km/hour.

To find out by how much the rocket's speed is faster: Difference in speed = Speed of rocket - Speed of penny Difference in speed = 249.7 km/hour - 30.6 km/hour Difference in speed ≈ 219.1 km/hour

The rocket is faster than the penny by approximately

219.1 kilometers per hour.