Presidential Skydiving

Problem:  Former President George Bush makes known his love of skydiving.   In 1999, Bush celebrated his 75th birthday with a skydive.  Another jump came in 1997 in the desert of Arizona.  His first skydive was a bailout from a plummeting airplane when Bush was in the military in World War II.  If on one of his jumps Bush fell at a rate of 1,000 feet every 5.6 seconds, how many miles per hour would he be traveling?

Answer:  95 mph using the following method:

1.  Convert 1,000 feet to miles by dividing by 5,280 feet/mile (0.19 mile).
2.  Convert 5.6 seconds to hours by dividing by 3600 seconds/hour (0.002 hr.).
3.  Divide 0.19 mile by 0.002 hr. (95 mph).

Risk vs. Reward | Split-Second Choices
Creative Decisions | Event Planning | Extreme Sports

Last Updated: 02/16/03
This Web site made possible by ConocoPhillips.  Copyright 2003 ConocoPhillips. All rights reserved.
For more information or to send comments, please send an e-mail to teach@conocophillips.com.