Mr. R.’s World of Math

Page 1: Rockets and Bragging

So here’s a story you’re probably not gonna’ believe, but it’s true. I promise you! At least I remember it happening…

school smallIt was a long time ago, when I was teaching in a school that was a bit strange, and a bit peculiar (but not nearly as peculiar and strange as the school you’re in right now!)

As I remember, it was a cold, dark morning, and I came into my classroom like I always did. Everything was perfectly normal and there was no way I could have imagined what was going to happen to me and my students that very strange day.

It was morning meeting, and the students were sharing the rocket designs they’d made for homework. We were having rocket week, which meant we were studying everything about rockets!spaceship blue
The students had spent a week finishing their designs of baking soda & vinegar rockets, and after our meeting, we were going out to the recess yard to see which ones flew the highest.
“I think mine will fly the best,” said Matthew, “I put these cool fins on it.”
“No, mine will definitely fly better,” said Jenna, “Mine is more aerodynamic.”
“I think mine will fly the best, my brother helped me make it,” said Zander.
“No, mine is one hundred percent the best, I got the design from YouTube,” added Joe.
After a few minutes all the students had bragged about their rocket designs, that is all of the students except Carlos.
rocket cartoonCarlos was really into rockets. He knew almost everything about them. Carlos’ grandfather had even trained to be an astronaut, but never got to fly because NASA had cancelled the flight program he was part of. Carlos felt bad his grandfather never made it into space, and he decided that one day he would fly to space to share the experience with his grandfather.

If the rocket Jenna built could fly 85 miles an hour, and Carlos’ rocket could fly 24% faster, how fast could Carlos’ rocket fly?

Enter the speed (to two decimal places) here:
MPH MPH

Your results

Join Mr. R. on YouTube