A person travels from x to y at a speed of 40Km/h and returns by increasing his speed 50%. What is his average speed for both the trips?
Correct answer: C. 48km/h
- A. 36km/h
- B. 45km/h
- C. 48km/h
- D. 50km/h
Explanation
For equal distances, average speed is total distance divided by total time, or 2uv/(u+v). The return speed is 40 km/h x 1.50 = 60 km/h, so average speed = 2 x 40 km/h x 60 km/h ÷ (40 km/h + 60 km/h) = 48 km/h. The likely mistake is option b, which takes the arithmetic mean of 40 km/h and 60 km/h even though the travel times are unequal.
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About Time, Speed and Distance
Problems relate distance, speed and time through the formula distance = speed × time, including unit conversion, average speed, relative speed and motion in opposite or the same direction. Questions may involve trains, boats and streams, where the effective speed changes, so average speed must not be confused with the simple average of two speeds.
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