Your friend boasts that he can run the 440 m from his home to his bus stop in 21 seconds. Do you believe him?

Question

Explain why?

Answer 1

absolutely noan average 400 m runner takes at least a minute. the world record is about 40 s. With a backpack, this feat would be impossible

Answer 2

All of these answers are about the same and all seem to find it is impossible to do the run in 21 seconds assuming it is done by way of running on his/her own two feet and without any other form of assistance or trickery. However I ould like to correct PCPY on his answer. The fastest time recorded in the 400m sprint is actually 43.18 and is the world record set in August 1999 by Michael Johnson in Seville, Spain. Also, there isn't a sprint in the Olympics or any other sport that is the 440 meter. It is actually the 400 meter or the 440 yard since they are the same thing, just by different measurements.

Answer 3

First off you cannot compare the world record sprinting speed over 100m and multiply by 4 (or even 4.4) to get the equivalent over the longer distance.

Second you can't take the world record sprinting time for 440 yds (qtr mile) and multiply by four to get the 1 mile time. These are all different types of sprints and the longer the race the slower the average speed, owing to biological limitations.

Third: the 440 yds and 400m are NOT the same distance measured by different scales; 440 yds is 402m plus change.

The 440yds and 400m comparisons are also irrelevant on the basis that the distance from house to bus stop IS 440m, not 440 yds or 400m.

The only relevant comparison is that you would expect it to take more time than the 400m sprint because it's further.

That said, the nearest comparison is the 400m sprint; if your friend can beat the 400m record time over a greater distance he is mistaken, either about the distance or the time by a factor of about two. Far be it from me to say that he is lying, I don't know him well enough to be able to state that with any confidence, he might just be pulling your leg, a time honoured field sport as opposed to the afore-mentioned track events.

Answer 4

Not in a million years. The world record for 100m is aprox 8~9 seconds, multiply this out and you have a time of 35~40 seconds. If he were the fastest man on earth and were able to maintain that pace for 4.5x longer than an olympic athelete, he still couldn't do 440m in 21s. Tell him he's a liar and if he insists he can do it have him drug tested by the IOC.

Answer 5

Assuming the best sprinters can make a speed of 10m/s. And 440m is classed as a sprint.

Your Friends Speed v(f)= s/t = 440/21 = 21m/s.

Since this is twice as fast as professional sprinters I do not believe him

Answer 6

Roger Black has the best time for a 400 meter sprint at 44.37 seconds.

If your friend tells you this then he is claiming to be able to run at a shade under 47 mph. This is not humanly possible given the musculature and skeletal features of a human.

Answer 7

440m is approximately a quarter of a mile. Thus his claim is that he can run a mile in about a minute and a half, more than twice as fast as the world record! If I believe him, it's only because I don't think very hard!

Answer 8

I agree with STMC 440/21=20.9, just about

Answer 9

And here's how to do it!..he would need a slope of at least 10degrees..prob more due to friction and air resistance.. (and his technique would have to resemble that of a triple jumper) This would allow a downslope component of acceleration equal to g*sin(theta)
PS he would be catching an ambulance not a bus when he reached the stop!

Answer 10

No, because the greatest athletes can only do 100M in 10 seconds so they would only be able to do it in 44 seconds minimum.