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Distance, time and speed
To work out the speed of an object you need to know:
 the distance travelled
 how long it took to travel that distance.

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Calculating average speed
Average speed is calculated using this equation:

Average
=
total distance d
speed total time
s t
formula triangle
Speed can be measured in different units, e.g. m/s, km/h,
km/s, miles per hour.
The units of distance and time will determine the units to
be used for speed.

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Words and units

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Speed formula triangle

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Speed calculation example
A girl takes 30 minutes to travel around a cross-country ski
course: a distance of 10 km. Calculate her average speed
in km/h.

10 km

average speed distance (in km)

(in km/h) =
time (in h)
10 km
= = 20 km/h
0.5 h

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Speed calculation example – units
Sometimes the units have to be changed in a speed
calculation. Calculate the average speed of the skier in m/s.

10 km

average speed distance (in m)

=
(in m/s) time (in s)
10,000 m
= = 2.8 m/s
3600 s

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Distance calculation
A boy sets off for a walk
around his village at an
average speed of 3.6 km/h.
How far will he travel in 30
minutes?

Give your answer in km.

distance (km) = speed (km/h) × time (h)

= 3.6 km/h × 0.5 h
= 1.8 km

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Time calculation – question 1
How long would it take the boy to walk 200 m to the church, if
his average speed was 0.8 m/s?

distance
time =
speed

200 m
=
0.8 m/s

= 250 seconds

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Car graphing activity – animation

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Distance–time graph

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Calculating speed from the gradient
The slope of a graph is called the gradient.

The gradient of the line in a

distance–time graph equals the speed.

It is difficult to calculate the Simple graphs use straight

gradient of ‘realistic’ graphs lines only, making it easy to
because the line is curved. calculate the gradient.
distance

distance

time time
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What’s the speed?
What is the speed of the object between points A and B?

B
70
 the object has moved
60 60 m (70 – 10 )
distance (m)

50
40  it took 3 s to move this
30 distance (6 – 3)
20
A  speed = distance/time
10
= 60/3
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 = 20 m/s
time (s)

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Speed–time graph

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What’s the speed?
How can we work out the average speed of this object
between points C and D?
B D
70  the object has moved
60 70 m (70 – 0 )
distance (m)

50
 it took 9 s to move this
40
distance (9 – 0)
30
20  speed = distance/time
A
10 C
0 = 70/9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
time (s) = 7.8 m/s

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Average speed vs. instantaneous speed
The speed of a race car at any point around a track is called
the instantaneous speed. A car will have a different
instantaneous speed at each of the points around the track.

Average speed is
the total distance
travelled divided by
the total time taken.
It is never bigger
than the
instantaneous
speed.

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Calculating average speeds

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Glossary

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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