Final answer:
The average speed of the car that traveled for 2 hours and 40 minutes and returned to its original position is 100 miles per hour when considering the round-trip distance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking us to determine the speed of a car that traveled for 2 hours and 40 minutes and then returned to its original position. To calculate speed, we use the formula:
Speed = total distance traveled / total time taken.
The problem statement mentions that the car was driving at 50 miles per hour for 2 hours and 40 minutes. First, we need to convert 2 hours and 40 minutes into hours only. Since 40 minutes is 2/3 of an hour (or 0.6667 when rounded), we add this to the 2 hours, giving us a total time of 2.6667 hours. Assuming the car maintained a constant speed of 50 mph for the entire duration and returned to its starting point, the total distance it covered would be:
50 miles/hour * 2.6667 hours = 133.335 miles.
Since the car came back to its starting point, the total distance it effectively traveled for the purpose of calculating speed is 0.
However, if we consider the distance covered before returning to the original position, the average speed would be calculated by doubling the distance (as it made a round-trip), which would be 133.335 miles * 2 = 266.67 miles. Dividing this by the total time gives us:
Average speed = 266.67 miles / 2.6667 hours = 100 miles per hour.