To find the speed of a current. Scientist place a paddle wheel in the stream and observe the rate at which the it rotates. If the paddle wheel has a radius of 3.2 m and rotates 100 rpm how do you find the speed?

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Answer 1 · 2018-07-25T06:20:29

The speed of the current is $= 33.5 m s^{- 1}$ $=33.5ms^-1$

The radius of the wheel is $r = 3.2 m$ $r=3.2m$

The rotation is $n = 100 rpm$ $n=100 " rpm"$

The angular velocity is

$ω = 2 π \frac{n}{60} = 2 \cdot π \cdot \frac{100}{60} = 10.47 r a d s^{- 1}$ $omega=2pin/60=2*pi*100/60=10.47rads^-1$

The speed of the current is

$v = ω r = 10.47 \cdot 3.2 = 33.5 m s^{- 1}$ $v=omegar=10.47*3.2=33.5ms^-1$