Question

A college runner set a school record of 3:59.37 in the mile run. assuming that the distance was measured accurately to five significant figures, what was the runner's average speed in kilometers per hour?

Answer 1

We are given that the time record in a 1 mile run is 3:59.37 where this is in the format of HH:MM

There are 3 hours 59.37 minutes. Converting every unit to hour:

3 hours + 59.37 min (1 hour / 60 minute) = 3.9895 hour

 

So the average speed is:

average speed = 1 mile * (1.61 km / mile) / 3.9895 hour

average speed = 0.4 km / hour