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Printjmc
prealgebra senior
Problem
If a girl 5 feet tall could walk around the equator, how many feet further would the top of her head travel than her feet? Assume that the earth is a sphere. Express your answer in terms of .
Solution
Let be the radius of the earth in feet. The girl's feet travel along a circle of radius , while the girl's head travels along a circle of radius . The circumference of the first circle is , while the circumference of the second circle is . So her head travels feet more than her feet.
Final answer
10\pi