Question

*if you traveled one mile at a speed of 100 miles per hour and another mile at a speed of 1 mile per hour, your average speed would not be (100 mph + 1 mph)/2 or 50.5 mph. what would be your average speed? (hint: what is the total distance and total time?)

Answer 1

The average speed for the trip, based on traveling one mile at 100 mph and another mile at 1 mph, is approximately 1.98 mph, which is determined by dividing the total distance of 2 miles by the total time of 1.01 hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

The average speed of a trip is calculated by dividing the total distance traveled by the total time taken to travel that distance. To find the average speed for the two-mile trip described, we need to calculate the total time for each part of the trip and then sum those times.

For the first mile traveled at 100 miles per hour, the time taken is 1 mile / 100 mph = 0.01 hours. For the second mile traveled at 1 mile per hour, the time taken is 1 mile / 1 mph = 1 hour. The total time for the two miles is 0.01 hours + 1 hour = 1.01 hours.

Total distance traveled is 2 miles (1 mile + 1 mile).

Now, we apply the formula:

Average speed = Total distance / Total time
Average speed = 2 miles / 1.01 hours
Average speed = 1.9802 miles per hour (approximately).

The calculated average speed of approximately 1.98 mph demonstrates that average speed is not simply the average of the two speeds but is instead dependent on the total distance and total time.

Answer 2

The answer is 1.818 (if rounded to the nearest thousandth).

This is because when you travel the first mile, it takes you only .1hrs. When you travel the second mile, it takes a full hour. Thus you have travelled 2 miles in 1.1hrs. When you divide the 2 by 1.1, you get the answer above.