The peregrine falcon can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour while diving to catch prey, making it the fastest animal on the planet when in a dive.If a peregrine falcon dove at its maximum speed for half a mile to catch prey, how many seconds would the dive take? (Round your answer to the nearest second.)

Explanation

The correct answer is 9. If x is the number of hours it will take the falcon to dive 0.5 miles, then the speed of 200 miles per hour can be used to create the proportion 200 miles/1 hour = 0.5 mile/ x hours.This proportion can be rewritten as x hours = 0.5 mile/ 200 mile hr-1, which gives x = 0.0025. There are 60 minutes in 1 hour and 60 seconds in each minute, so there are (60)(60) = 3600 seconds in one hour. Therefore, 0.0025 hour is equivalent to (0.0025 hour)(3600 seconds/1 hour) = 9 seconds.