Running races in athletics are started by the sound of a starting gun which was traditionally located to one side of the first lane. Questions have been raised around the issue of how long it takes...

Running races in athletics are started by the sound of a starting gun which was traditionally located to one side of the first lane. Questions have been raised around the issue of how long it takes the sound of the start gun to reach each of the runners and if runners are disadvantaged if they are further away from the person holding the starting gun. Task Using your knowledge of algebra, investigate whether the distance from the starting gun will impact on a runner’s ability to win a race. Useful information  8 Runners are located side by side in a straight line to start the race.  Runners are placed 1 metre apart. The furthest runner is 8 m from the starting gun, the closest is 1 metre.  Speed of sound is approximately 340 metres per second. Steps to help you solve the problem  Use a formula that relates the speed of the starting gun sound to distance of the runner from the starting gun and the time the sound takes to travel this distance.  Rearrange the formula to make time the subject.  Use the formula to determine the times taken for sound to reach each of the runners.  Explore which runners, if any, would be most disadvantaged if a race was won by 0.2 seconds or 0.02 seconds