Question

A polar bear starts at the North Pole. It travels in a triangular path 1.0km south then 1.0km east and then 1.0 km north to return to the starting point. This trip takes 45 min. What was the bears average speed?

Answer 1

The average speed of a polar bear that travels a triangular path of 3.0 km in 45 minutes is 4 km/h, calculated by dividing the total distance by the total time taken converted to hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking about calculating the average speed of a polar bear that starts at the North Pole and travels along a triangular path. The total distance traveled by the polar bear is 3.0 kilometers (1.0 km south, 1.0 km east, 1.0 km north), and it takes the polar bear 45 minutes to complete this trip.

To calculate the average speed, we use the formula:

Average speed = Total distance traveled / Total time taken

The total distance traveled is 3.0 km, and the time taken is 45 minutes, which we convert to hours by dividing by 60, giving us 0.75 hours. Now we can calculate:

Average speed = 3.0 km / 0.75 hours = 4 km/h

Therefore, the average speed of the polar bear was 4 kilometers per hour.