Dog Greets Owners

On vacation a couple parked their camper near the ocean at dusk. At dawn the woman took a run along the shoreline. While walking back she saw the man and their dog get out of the camper and begin to walk toward her. Off-leash, the dog walked beside the man, sniffing and digging ... as dogs at the shore do.

Event Description: At a distance from them, the woman shouted "DAISY Come!" Immediately the dog bolted full-speed to the woman then around her. The dog then ran full-speed back to the man, around him, then back to the woman. The man and woman continued to walked toward each other - laughing at Daisy. Finally the three came together. The woman said, "Poor Daisy! She sure traveled a lot further than we did."

The above paragraphs constitute a description of a physical event. Notice no system is yet specified, no quantitative information nor question (object of inquiry) was stated. There is only the woman's conjecture about "How far the dog ran compared to them."

Below we recast this event description to become a physical scenario. We will select a system and system model. For other information needed we will make reasonable assumptions then calculate the approximate distances involved.

Physical Scenario: Prior to the event the man and dog walk together in a straight line toward a woman who is walking toward them. We approximate their speeds to be constant at 2.5ft/sec. When the dog and woman are 200 feet apart, she shouts. Her shout (the event catalyst) marks the time of event initiation. We designate the location of the man and dog as "0 ft." on an X-axis. We estimate the speed of the dog to be 7.5ft/sec. As the man and woman move steadily toward eachother, the dog speeds back and forth between them. The event ends when the man and woman meet with the dog between them.

Duration of the event: The man and woman are 200ft apart intially. The distance bettween them diminishes by 5 ft/sec. Consequently the time lapsed is t = 200ft/5 ft per sec or 40 seconds.

Disance traveled by the dog: The dog, running continuously, travels D = 7.5 ft/sec x 40 sec = 300 feet.