How to calculate average speed? This a question that every person asks themselves from time to time. Here in this guide, we will solve your dilemmas regarding this matter. Below you can read a lot of information about the physical quantity speed, the formula for its calculation, as well as specific examples with a solution!
Average speed is data that is an arithmetic mean of the magnitude of the speed during the entire journey performed by a given body. This data will help us understand what the average speed was during a specific movement.
Formula For Calculating Average Speed
To form a formula for calculating average speed we need certain information about the movement. To calculate speed we need to craft:
- What is the size of the road that was covered during the trip.
- How much time did it take for the body to reach the final point of the journey from the starting point?
If we know the above data, then we can easily calculate the average speed for the specific trip. But let’s first understand how we can form the formula itself for calculating speed!
The speed depends directly on the size of the traveled road. If for the same time interval, two bodies travel a path of different lengths, then the body that has traveled a shorter path must move at a higher speed. Conversely, a body that traveled a shorter distance must have moved at a slower speed.
Speed is inversely proportional to time. If two bodies cover the same path at different times, then the body that reaches the goal in a shorter time must move at a higher speed. Conversely, the body that will reach the goal in a long time must move at a lower speed.
Bearing in mind the two conclusions above, we can understand that precisely the ratio between the distance traveled and the time can give us information about how fast the body moved during the journey.
The formula for calculating average speed is:
The average speed is the quotient of the traveled distance and the time interval that the body needed to reach the goal!
Using the formula, the examples that you can see below on the page are solved!
Examples On How To Calculate Average Speed
Example 1: A car traveled 150 kilometers in 2.5 hours. Calculate the average speed with which the car moved during the trip!
In the formula, we substitute 150 kilometers in the place of the distance traveled, while we substitute 2.5 hours in the place of time. The expression looks like this:
In the next step, we calculate the quotient of the numbers 150 and 2.5, which immediately gives us accurate information about the speed with which the car was moving.
The average speed with which the car moves is 60 kilometers per hour.
Example 2: An athlete managed to run 200 meters in 22 seconds. Calculate the average speed with which the athlete runs!
In the formula, we substitute 200 meters in the place of distance traveled, while we substitute 22 seconds in the place of time.
In the next step, we calculate the quotient of the numbers 200 and 22, which immediately gives us accurate information about the speed with which the athlete was moving.
The average speed with which the athlete moves is 9.09 meters per second. See how to convert from km/h to m/s!
Adequate speed Measures
When calculating average speed it is in your best interest to work with appropriate measures of length and time. For example, if in a task you have a measure of kilometers for the distance traveled, and minutes for the time, then you can finally get a measure of kilometers per minute for the average speed. This measure and calculation will make you a huge problem because no one can understand this measure. Therefore, before calculating average speed, we recommend that you adjust the initial information and measures in one of the following two variants:
- Distance in kilometers, time in hours.
- Distance in meters, time in seconds.
If you have one of the two above combinations of distance and time measurements available then you can easily start applying the formula to calculate average speed without worrying about getting an understandable speed measurement. In these two situations, you will calculate the average speed in km/h or in m/s, which is certainly an understandable variant.
