The 200 m free style women's swimming gold medal at the Asian Games went to Priya of India when she established a new record of 1 minute and 57.56 seconds. Assuming she completed the majority of the distance at a uniform speed and was required to exert 460 W to sustain her speed, determine the average force of resistance provided by the water during the swim.

Step-by-step solution

Distance d = 200 m Time t = 1 min 57.56 s = 60 + 57.56 = 117.56 s Average speed v = d t = 200 117.56 m/s Power P = 460 W Since the speed is uniform, the force exerted by the swimmer equals the force of resistance provided by the water. Using the relation P = F v , we get: F = P v = P t d F = 460 117.56 200 = 2.3 117.56 = 270.388 N The average force of resistance is approximately 270 N .