Dave wrote:
On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 11:30:59 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
said:

If a sailboat leaves Miami at 5 knots per hour, how fast will it
be going when it reaches Panama?

Impossible to determine without knowing its starting speed.

Starting speed: 0 Knots.

Can you give an instance when this is _not_ the case? Every time
I've started a trip I've experienced a starting speed of roughly
zero knots. give or take.

Er... you seem to have missed the point. The phrase "5 knots per
hour" tells you nothing about speed. It tells you only about
acceleration (that is, the rate at which speed is changing). So if
the boat is cruising by Miami at 10 knots and leaves Miami with an
acceleration of a steady 5 knots per hour, its speed after 1 hour is
15 knots.

Vintage "Dave." I can only guess that you either missed my post on
"acceleration," or intentionally ignored it. The same comment applies to
the original writer's comment regarding "leaving Miami."

Yup, vintage Dave.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare