A human wave . During sporting events within large, densely packed stadiums, spe

Question

A human wave. During sporting events within large, densely packed stadiums, spectators will send a wave (or pulse) around the stadium. As the wave reaches a group of spectators, they stand with a cheer and then sit. At any instant, the width w of the wave is the distance from the leading edge (people are just about to stand) to the trailing edge (people have just sat down). Suppose a human wave travels a distance of 892 seats around a stadium in 43.4 s, with spectators requiring about 1.80 s to respond to the wave's passage by standing and then sitting. What are (a) the wave speed v and (b) width w?

Explanation / Answer

"a human wave travels a distance of 882 seats around a stadium in 43.4 s"
velocity = (892 seats)/(43.4 s) = 20.55 seats/second

Note, velocity = seats/seconds
seats = velocity x seconds

in 1.80 seconds,
seats =20.55 x 1.80 =36.99 seats

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