Question 4 - Problems - Chapter 2

Problem:

During the fall, the monarch butterfly migrates some 3500 km from the Nord-Eastern of the United States to Mexico.

Question:

Guess the speed of the butterfly and estimate how long it takes to make his trip

Solution:

Some sientific facts on the migrating speed of the Monarch butterfly can be found if you click here

Cruise speed of the Monarch butterfly is estimated at 18 km/h, but the average speed during his migration is calculated to be 9 km/h

They fly only at daylight and in fall the mean daylight in California is 10 hours.

Distance $s = 3500 km$

Time $t = \frac{s}{v}$

Average speed $v = 9$ km/h

Distance = 3500 # in km
Speed_km_h = 9 # in km/h
Time_h = Distance / Speed_km_h
# limit to 2 significant figures as distance is given in 2 significants too
print(f'The time for this migration is {Time_h:.0f} hours') 
Time_d = Time_h / 10
print(f'The time for this migration in days is {Time_d:.0f} days at a mean of 10 hours a day.')

The time for this migration is 389 hours
The time for this migration in days is 39 days at a mean of 10 hours a day.