Question

Please explain me HOW to do it:

If I travel at 50 mph for 2 hours and at 60 mph for 3 hours, what was my average speed during the entire trip?
(The answer is NOT 55)

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Answer 1

Answer: The average speed is 54 miles per hour.

Answer 2

56 mph

Explanation:

You need to find the average of the speed for the five hour span of time.

If you're traveling at 50 mph for 2 hours, and 60 mph for 3 hours, then you can express each hour as 50, 50, 60, 60, 60. These are the speeds for each hour for your five hour trip. To find the average, add them all up and divide by the number of hours.

50+50+60+60+60 = 280

Then divide by five (the number of total hours).

280/5 = 56.

And there you go, there's the average speed of your trip (in bold).