hat is the speed of a sailboat traveling 100m in 140s?

A: 1.4m/s
B: .71m/s
C: 40m/s
Katie traveled southwest a distance of 4000m on a bicycle in 5400s. What is her
velocity?

A: .74m/s SW
B: 1.35m/s SW
C: 1.11m/s SW
Calculate the speed of a dog running through a yard covering 24m in 52s.

A: .54m/s
B: 2.2m/s
C: .46m/s
Sheila is a cross-country runner and she covers a distance of 250m in 150s. What
is her speed?

A: .6m/s
B: 1.7m/s
C: 1.3m/s
hat is the velocity of a car that travels 556km northwest in 3.2 hours?

A: 1779 km/hr NW
B: .006km/hr NW
C: 174 km/hr NW
What is the speed of a horse that runs a distance of 1.2 miles in 2.4 minutes?

A: 0.5 miles/min
B: 2 miles/min
C: 2.9 miles/min
Which has a greater velocity? A ball rolling down a 3.4m hill in 8.5s or a fish
swimming upstream, covering 6.2m in 0.6 minutes?
 A: FISH
B: BALL
What is the speed of a softball traveling 52m in 1.9s?

A: 46.8m/s
B: .037m/s
C: 27.4m/s
Actual Your Answer(s)
Number

Review - 1 B C

Review - 2 A C

Review - 3 C C

Review - 4 B

Review - 5 C

Review - 6 A

Review - 7 B

Review - 8 A

Review - 9 C

Review - 10 B

Velocity and Speed: Solutions to Problems

Solutions to the problems on velocity and speed of moving objects.
More tutorials can be found in this website.
Problem 1: A man walks 7 km in 2 hours and 2 km in 1 hour in the same
direction.

a) What is the man's average speed for the whole journey?

b) What is the man's average velocity for the whole journey?

Solution to Problem 1:

a)

distance 7 km + 2 km 9 km
average speed = = = = 3 km/h
time 2 hours + 1 hour 3 hours
b)
displacement 7 km + 2 km 9 km
average velocity = = = = 3 km/h
time 2 hours + 1 hour 3 hours

Problem 2: A man walks 7 km East in 2 hours and then 2.5 km West in 1

hour.

a) What is the man's average speed for the whole journey?

b) What is the man's average velocity for the whole journey?

Solution to Problem 2:

a)

7 km + 2.5 9.5
average distance km km = 3.2 km/h (approximated to the
= =
speed = time 2 hours + 1 3 nearest tenth)
hour hours
b)
displacement 7 km - 2.5 km 4.5 km
average velocity = = = = 1.5 km/h
time 2 hours + 1 hour 3 hours

Problem 3: You start walking from a point on a circular field of radius 0.5
km and 1 hour later you are at the same point.

a) What is your average speed for the whole journey?

b) What is your average velocity for the whole journey?

Solution to Problem 3:

a) If you walk around a circular field and come back to the same point, you
have covered a distance equal to the circumference of the circle.

2 * 0.5
average distance circumference = Pi km/h = 3.14 km/h
= = * Pi
speed = time time (approximated)
1 hour
b) If you walk around a circular field and come back to the same point
where you started the displacement, which a change in position, is equal
to zero. Since the displacement is equal to zero, the average velocity is
also equal to zero.

Problem 4: John drove South 120 km at 60 km/h and then East 150 km at
50 km/h. Determine

a) the average speed for the whole journey?

b) the magnitude of the average velocity for the whole journey?

Solution to Problem 4:

a)
The time t1 to cover 120 km at a speed of 60 km/h is given by

t1 = 120 / 60 = 2 hours

The time t2 to cover 150 km at a speed of 50 km/h is given by

t2 = 150 / 50 = 3 hours

distance 120 km + 150 km 270 km

average speed = = = = 54 km/h
time 2 hours + 3 hours 5 hours
b) The magnitude of the displacement is the distance AC between the final
point and the starting point and is calculated using Pythagora's theorem as
follows

AC2 = 1202 + 1502 AC = ?(14400+22500) = 30 ?41 km

displacement 30 ?41 km
average velocity = = = 38.4 km/h (approximated)
time 2 hours + 3 hour

Problem 5: If I can walk at an average speed of 5 km/h, how many miles I

can walk in two hours?
Solution to Problem 5:

distance = (average speed) * (time) = 5 km/h * 2 hours = 10 km

using the rate of conversion 0.62 miles per km, the distance in miles is
given by

distance = 10 km * 0.62 miles/km = 6.2 miles

Problem 6: A train travels along a straight line at a constant speed of 60

mi/h for a distance d and then another distance equal to 2d in the same
direction at a constant speed of 80 mi/h.

a)What is the average speed of the train for the whole journey?

Solution to Problem 6:

a) The time t1 to cover distance d at a speed of 60 mi/h is given by

t1 = d / 60

The time t2 to cover distance 2d at a speed of 80 mi/h is given by

t2 = 2d / 80

d + 2d 3d
average distance 3d 3d*4800 = 72
= d/60 + = (80d + = =
speed = time 200d/4800 200d mi/h
2d/80 2d*60)/(60*80)

Problem 7: A car travels 22 km south, 12 km west, and 14 km north in half

an hour.

a) What is the average speed of the car?

b) What is the final displacement of the car?

c) What is the average velocity of the car?

Solution to Problem 7:

a)
 distance 22 km + 12 km + 14 km
average speed = = = 96 km/h
time 0.5 hour
b) The displacement is the distance between the starting point and the
final point and is the hypotenuse DA of the right triangle DAE and is
calculated using Pythagora's theorem as follows

AE = 22 - 14 = 8 km

DA2 = AE2 + ED2 = 82 + 122 = 64 + 144 = 208

DA = ?208 = 4?13 km

c)
displacement 4?13 km
average velocity = = = 28.8 km/h (approximated)
time 0.5 hour

Problem 8: A man walked from point A to F following the route in the grid
below in 3250 seconds. Determine
a) the average speed, in m/s, for the whole journey.

b) the magnitude of the displacement.

c) the magnitude of the average velocity, in m/s, for the whole journey.

Solution to Problem 8:

a)
 3 km + 1 km + 1.5 km + 6.5 km 6500 m
average distance =2
= 0.5 km + 0.5 km = 3250 = 3250
speed = time m/s
3250 seconds seconds seconds
b) The magnitude of the displacement is the distance between the starting
point A and the final point F and is the hypotenuse AF of the right triangle
AFH and is calculated using Pythagora's theorem as follows

AF2 = FH2 + HA2 = 32 + 42 = 9 + 16 = 25

DA = ?25 = 5 km

c)
displacement 5 km 5000 m
average velocity = = = = 1.5 m/s (approximated)
time 3250 s 3250 s