Jason Lezak won by .08 seconds. How much is that in inches

Question

He barely beat the other guy in the 400 m relay. Is .08 seconds 2 inches? 4 inches? a foot?

Answer 1

He won by a fingertip, I'd say 1/2 an inch!  

Answer 2

Probably more like a millimeter.  It was very close!

Answer 3

more like a centemeter i would think. i really have no idea. you could ask a science teacher because they would know all about physics and water and they probally could make an equation for it. woohooo i know right? ill ask my swim coach when i see her because she is a science teacher also. sorry but i dont think it could be any more that a centimeter. realistically it would be microscopic because you cant even imagine how fast .08 of a second is. =]

have a blessed monday.

=] hannah.

Answer 4

It's hard to give specifics, but it depends on the speed of both swimmers and the velocity Lezak had going into the wall.

If you watch the underwater replays, you can see that it's not even 2 inches, but it's more of an inch, or a fraction thereof.

*** It seems like the guy at the bottom has the right idea figuring out the math, but he didn't include the split for the French guy.

You'd have to take both times and subtract the difference giving you how much faster he was than the Frenchman, giving you something much less than the 6 inches.

Answer 5

He split 46.06 seconds for his 100 meter leg of the relay.  Therefore he was going (100m divided by 46.06) 2.171 meters per second.  In 0.08 seconds he'd travel (2.171 X 0.08 =) 0.174 meters which is equal to 17.4 cm.  There are 2.54 cm in an inch so 17.4 divided by 2.54 = 6.85 inches.

It sure looked closer and it most likely was as the fashion in which a swimmer touches the wall effects their time.  But, based purely on time and distance, Lezak won by 6.85 inches.

Your reply:

your example requires that his speed was constant for the last 50 meters. I'm thinking that he sped up.

My response:

Do you know either of the swimmers rate of acceleration or deceleration?  Well, since you don't, I answered your question as stated as you asked ONLY how much space 0.08 seconds is, as implied, the rate he was swimming.

Now since Lezak split 24.56 for his 2nd 50, his rate of speed would be reduced to 2.035 m/sec (50/24.56).  So, 0.08 X 24.56 = 16.29 cm divided by 2.54 =  6.4 inches.

SO!  The race was closer than I first said by 0.45 inches!