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Susan traveled 140 miles at a rate of 28 mph. She then drove for 2 hours at a speed of 35 mph. What was her average speed for the entire trip?

User Paresh J
by
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1 Answer

2 votes

Answer:

30 miles per hour

Explanation:

We want to know the average speed over a course with one leg run at one speed, and another leg run at a different speed.

Setup

To find the average speed, we need to know the total time and the total distance. The relation ...

time = distance/speed ⇔ distance = speed × time

can be used to fill in the blanks.

The first leg is a distance of 140 miles. The time for that leg is ...

t1 = (140 mi)/(28 mi/h) = 5 h

The second leg takes 2 hours at a speed of 35 mph. The distance covered is ...

d2 = (35 mi/h)(2 h) = 70 mi

The total distance is ...

d = d1 +d2 = 140 mi +70 mi = 210 mi

The total time is ...

t = t1 +t2 = 5 h + 2 h = 7 h

Solution

The average speed is the ratio of total distance to total time:

d/t = (210 mi)/(7 h) = 30 mi/h

Susan's average speed for the trip was 30 mph.

User Ostap Brehin
by
5.3k points