IXL | Average speed: word problems

During a bicycle ride, Kurt started out riding uphill, traveling 37 kilometers in 5 hours and 12 minutes. Since the way back was mostly downhill, he was able to make the return trip in 1 hour and 13 minutes. What was his average speed for the entire ride?

Write your answer as a whole number or as a decimal rounded to the nearest tenth.

kilometers per hour

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Learn with an example

question

In the morning, Mr. Massey left home and biked the 6 miles to work in 58 minutes. At the end of the day, he took the same path back and took 52 minutes to get home. What was his average speed for the whole trip?

Write your answer as a whole number or as a decimal rounded to the nearest tenth.

miles per hour

key idea

The equation that relates distance, rate (speed), and time is

This can also be written as

solution

To find the average rate, you can't simply take the average of the two rates. Instead, you must divide the total distance by the total time.

First, find the total distance.

Next, find the total time. Be sure to convert to hours.

58 minutes

52 minutes

1 hour and 50 minutes

1.833333…

Finally, plug in the distance and total time to find the average rate in miles per hour.

1.833333…

≈

6.5

miles per hour

Mr. Massey's average speed was about 6.5 miles per hour.

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S.11Unit rates

J.1Add, subtract, multiply, or divide two decimals

W.9Round decimals

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