How do police offiicer use decimals? - Answers

Do you ever wonder how officials decide who is At Fault in an accident when there are no witnesses? The answer is math. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) use math in many ways, not only while analyzing accidents, but also while on patrol. Math is used in forensics as well and members of the RCMP work with engineers and other specialists to find clues at a crime scene. Then, they can use problem-solving skills to draw up a variety of possibilities. As more clues unfold, they can eliminate possibilities, coming to a final conclusion that can be used as evidence in court.Accident ReconstructionOne of the specialty areas of the RCMP is accident reconstruction. These people analyze traffic accidents to determine the cause of an accident and the causes of any injuries that people sustained. It is also their job to decide whether or not the accident was preventable. To do this, they need to have a very acute sense of mathematics.Frequently, when a collision accident happens, there are skid marks left on the roadway from a vehicle that has locked its breaks. Specialists measure the skid marks and apply the measurement to a formula that enables them to find the speed of the vehicle, prior to the collision. The formula that the accident re-constructionists use is:S is the speed of the vehicle, d is the distance of the skid marks, and f is the coefficient of friction. Measuring the distance of skid marks is a fairly routine procedure and can be done relatively easily, but it is a little more difficult to find the coefficient of friction.