Question

You and your family are taking a road trip. You start off traveling 130 miles in two hours. You stop for half an hour to gas up and get some snacks. Back on the road for 3.5 hours and you have traveled 225 more miles. So far, what is the average speed of your trip? show your work

Answer 1

Answer:

The average speed of the car during this time is 59.16 mile/hr.

Explanation:

Average speed : It is defined as the ratio total distance to total time.

Formula used :

$\text{Average speed}=\frac{\text{Total distance}}{\text{Total time}}$

As per question,

Distance traveled by car in 2 hours = d = 130 miles

Time taken by the car = t =  2 hours

Duration of time when car was not moving = t' = 0.5 hour

Distance traveled by car in 3.5 hours = d' =  225 miles

Time taken by the car = t'' = 3.5 hours

Now put all the given values in the above formula, we get:

$\text{Average speed}=\frac{\text{Total distance}}{\text{Total time}}$

$\text{Average speed}=\frac{d+d]}{t+t'+t''}=\frac{130 mile+225 miles}{2 hr+0.5 hr+3.5 hr}$

$=\frac{355 mile}{6 hr}=59.16 mile/hr$

Therefore, the average speed of the car during this time is 59.16 mile/hr.

Answer 2

Answer:

59.8

Explanation:

This problem is always done by taking the total distance and dividing by the total time.

The 1/2 hour used for gas and snacks counts under total time.

Total distance = 130 miles + 225 miles = 355 miles

Total Time = 2 + 1/2 + 3.5 =6 hours.

Average speed = Total distance / total time = 355/6 = 59.8 miles / hour