Question

Henry is taking part in a race.

For the first 160 m he runs at 4 m/s.
The remaining 300 m of the race takes him 120 seconds.
What is Henry's average speed, in m/s, over the whole race?
Give your answer to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

Explanation:

To find the average speed of Henry over the whole race, we need to calculate the total distance he covered and the total time taken.

Distance covered in the first 160 m = 160 m

Distance covered in the remaining 300 m = 300 m

Total distance covered = 160 m + 300 m = 460 m

Time taken to cover the first 160 m = distance ÷ speed = 160 m ÷ 4 m/s = 40 s

Time taken to cover the remaining 300 m = 120 s

Total time taken = 40 s + 120 s = 160 s

Average speed = total distance ÷ total time taken = 460 m ÷ 160 s = 2.875 m/s

Therefore, Henry's average speed over the whole race is 2.9 m/s (rounded to 1 decimal place).