Question

You have already traveled 30 miles east and then 30 miles north. To get back to the start, you travel 30 miles west in 1 hour and then 30 miles south in a half hour. What are your average speed and average velocity for the whole rally? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

We can calculate the average speed for the last two steps only since timing is provided at those stages only.
Speed at the third step:
`(30)/(1)=30m/h`
Speed at the fourth step:
`(30)/(0.5h) =60miles/h`
The average speed then:

`(30+60)/(2)=45miles/h`

Answer 2

The answer is 45m/h

Explanation:

Since timing is only provided at stage three and four, therefore we can only calculate the average speed at that level.

Speed at step three: \frac{30}{1}=30m/h

Speed at step four: \frac{30}{0.5h} =60miles/h

Average speed:

\frac{30+60}{2}=45miles/h