4 ms·

When speed is zero, distance is zero and energy/distance is infinite. Hence the OP questioning how could the graph present a finite value at that point. Person

• lutusp 14y ago
  > When speed is zero, distance is zero and energy/distance is infinite. 1. Not energy/distance, but energy/speed. 2. Notwithstanding the cart's labeling ("Wh/mi"), its values aren't predicated on a division of energy by speed. "Wh/mi" doesn't literally mean mean "watt-hours divided by miles per hour", it means "the relationship between watt-hours and vehicle miles per hour". > Personally, I'd wager they followed the old scientific adage: "If you wish your function to be linear, sample two and only two points". Yes, except the chart isn't linear. Just for fun, here's a polynomial function that matches the chart's results reasonably well: f(x) = 0.03165008148658699 * x^2 + 0.2559872636164877 * x + 106.19966024840329 Here's the resulting chart: http://i.imgur.com/rLmaN90.png http://i.imgur.com/rLmaN90.png So ... no division by zero. BTW I worked this up with the help of Sage, my current favorite, free math tool: http://www.sagemath.org/ http://www.sagemath.org/