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How Do You Figure Out the Rate Traveled if You Know the Distance and Time?

Darius is going home from college for the weekend. He checked Google Maps and found that his house is 480 miles away. If he wants to drive at a constant speed, and arrive in exactly 8 hours, then what should his speed be?

Summary

  1. d stands for distance
  2. s stands for speed
  3. t stands for time
  4. d and t are variables that we know from the problem statement
  5. s is the variable we need to solve for!
  6. Plugging in the variables we know into d=s•t gives us 480=s•8
  7. To solve the equation that we get, we just divide both sides by 8 miles!
  8. mph stands for miles per hour, and is a unit of speed

Notes

    1. Whenever you have a problem that mentions distance, time, speed, or rate of travel, try to remember the formula that connects them all together
    1. Uniform motion means motion with a constant speed. So if you maintain the same speed and never slow down or speed up, you're following the rules of uniform motion.
    1. Uniform motion means motion with a constant speed. So if you maintain the same speed and never slow down or speed up, you're following the rules of uniform motion.
    2. d is a variable that stands for distance
    3. s is a variable that stands for speed
    4. t is a variable that stands for time
    5. r is a variable that stands for rate, which is another way of saying speed in this problem
    1. No that we know the formula, our next step is to figure out what variables we know from the problem
    1. d is a variable that stands for distance
    1. d is a variable that stands for distance
    1. t is a variable that stands for time
    1. The key to this problem is that Darius keeps the same speed for the entire trip!
    1. t is a variable that stands for time
    1. s is a variable that stands for speed
    1. s is a variable that stands for speed
    1. Plug in the values we know into the d=s•t equation!
    1. s is a variable that stands for speed, and is the variable we are trying to solve for
    1. s is a variable that stands for speed, and is the variable we are trying to solve for
    1. s is a variable that stands for speed, and is the variable we are trying to solve for
    2. mph stand for miles per hour, which is a unit of speed!
    1. mph stand for miles per hour, which is a unit of speed!