IXL | Calculate speed, distance, or time: word problems

A freight train traveled at 27 miles per hour and took 12 hours to reach its destination. What distance did it travel?

Write your answer as a whole number or decimal.

miles

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Learn with an example

question

Last week, Nolan took a road trip to his favorite ski resort. He drove at a speed of 55 miles per hour and reached the resort after 3 hours of driving. What distance did he travel?

Write your answer as a whole number or decimal.

miles

key idea

Speed measures how quickly a person or object is traveling. When the speed is constant, it is equal to the ratio of the distance traveled to the time spent traveling.

speed

distance

time

solution

You were asked to calculate the distance Nolan traveled. Read the problem to find his speed and the time he spent traveling.

He drove at a speed of 55 miles per hour and reached the resort after 3 hours of driving.

You want to know how many miles Nolan traveled in 3 hours. He could travel 55 miles in 1 hour. Find an equivalent rate with a denominator of 3 hours.

55 miles

1 hour

? miles

3 hours

Multiply both the numerator and the denominator of the first fraction by

(

55 miles

)

(

1 hour

)

165 miles

3 hours

This tells you Nolan traveled 165 miles in 3 hours.

You can also find the distance by multiplying the speed by the time.

distance

speed

time

(

55 miles per hour

)

(

3 hours

)

165 miles

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