A cart rolls down a hill, travelling $5$ inches the first second and accelerating so that during each successive $1$-second time interval, it travels $7$ inches more than during the previous $1$-second interval. The cart takes $30$ seconds to reach the bottom of the hill. How far, in inches, does it travel?
$\textbf{(A)} ~215 \qquad\textbf{(B)} ~360\qquad\textbf{(C)} ~2992\qquad\textbf{(D)} ~3195\qquad\textbf{(E)} ~3242$
Since \[\mathrm{Distance}=\mathrm{Speed}\cdot\mathrm{Time},\] we seek the sum \[5\cdot1+12\cdot1+19\cdot1+26\cdot1+\cdots=5+12+19+26+\cdots,\] in which there are $30$ terms.
The last term is $5+7\cdot(30-1)=208.$ Therefore, the requested sum is \[5+12+19+26+\cdots+208=\frac{5+208}{2}\cdot30=\boxed{\textbf{(D)} ~3195}.\] Recall that to find the sum of an arithmetic series, we take the average of the first and last terms, then multiply by the number of terms: \[\mathrm{Sum}=\frac{\mathrm{First}+\mathrm{Last}}{2}\cdot\mathrm{Count}.\] ~MRENTHUSIASM