Overview
Dimensional analysis is a problem-solving technique that uses unit cancellation to guide
the process. In this activity, you will use dimensional analysis, the metric prefix
conversions, and the conversion factors provided to determine how long it would take a
banana slug to run a marathon.
Assignment
Determine the length of time it would take for a banana slug to run a complete
marathon. Use the information below for guidance.
Question: How long would it take a slug to run a marathon, 26.2 miles?
• Provide your answer in a time length that gives a value between 1 and 100. You'll
need to decide whether that is minutes, days, years, or decades. The number
needs to have a context (or have meaning) to you.
•
Here are some potentially useful conversion factors. There are multiple ways to
solve this problem and you may not need all these conversion factors.
• You might also need some of your metric prefix conversions! Remember "King
Henry died by drinking chunky milk.
Length
12 inch = 1 foot
1 inch = 2.54 cm
3 feet = 1 yard
5280 feet = 1 mile
1760 yards = 1 mile
Time
1 min = 60 seconds
60 minutes 1 hour
24 hours 1 day
365.25 days = 1 year
10 years 1 decade
Slug Travel Rate
0.0229 mm/s
Hints:
. Consider starting with the length of the marathon, 26.2 miles.
• Show all your work. Include both number and unit in each space.
• Use the "fence posts" to organize your conversion factors to cancel units.