A bicycle with 18-in.-diameter wheels has its gears set so that the chain has a 7-in. radius on the front sprocket and 4-in. radius on the rear sprocket. The cyclist pedals at 190 rpm
Find the linear speed of the bicycle in in/min (correct to at least two decimal places)
How fast is the bike moving in mph (to two decimal places)?
Because the chain moves at the same speed over both sprockets......the rear sprocket must make 7/4 revolutions for every one revolution made by the front sprocket
So.....when the rider moves the front sprocket through 190 revs/min......the rear sprocket moves through 190 (7/4) = 332.5 revs/min......and the back wheel will rotate at the same rate
So....the linear speed of the bicycle in inches per minute =
2pi * 9 * 332.5 = about 18802.43 in/min
The speed in mph =
[2pi *9 * 332.5]inches per minute * 60 minutes in 1 hr / [63360 in/ mile] = about 17.27 mph