Who was the fastest?
Athletes run races over set distances. The time they take is measured. The winner is the person
who covers the distance in the shortest time. If you want to find out who was the fastest in
different races, you need to calculate the speed of each athlete.
Speed is calculated using this equation:
Speed = distance ÷ time
You can convert a speed in m/s into mph by multiplying it by 2.237
You can convert mph to m/s by dividing by 2.237
Example
Mohammed ran 50 m in 6 seconds.
Speed = distance ÷ time
= 50 m ÷ 6 s
= 8.3 m/s
1
The table shows the winning times for different races. Calculate the speed for each
athlete and fill in the last column.
Athlete
Race
Time (s)
A
50 m
B
1000 m
250
C
400 m
70
D
100 m
13
E
200 m
25
F
800 m
150
Speed (m/s)
6
8.3
2
Which athlete in question 1 was the fastest? ____________________________.
3
The Paralympics is a sporting event held for disabled athletes. Wheelchair races are run
over different distances.
Athlete A won the 100 m wheelchair race in 20 seconds. How fast was he going?
a
____________________________________________________________________
b
Athlete B won the 200 m race in 39 seconds. How fast was she going?
____________________________________________________________________
c
Who was the fastest, Athlete A or Athlete B? _______________________________
4
An athlete ran 26.2 miles in 180 minutes. How fast was he running? Give your answer
in miles per hour.
5
An athlete ran 100 m in 20 seconds.
a
What was the athlete’s speed in m/s?
b
What was her speed in mph?
c
How long should it take them to run 5 miles? Give your answer in minutes. (Hint: 0.3
hours is not 30 minutes!)
d
It actually took the athlete an hour to run 5 miles. Why was her time longer than the
time you calculated in part c?
6
A car attempting to break the land speed record reached a speed of 675 mph.
a
How many miles would it travel each second? (Hint: You will need to divide by the
number of seconds in an hour.)
b
.
c
How long would it take to travel 10 miles? Give your answer in seconds
7
The slowest mammal is the sloth, with an average speed of about 0.1 mph. The
fastest is the cheetah, with a mean speed of 37 mph.
a
What is the speed of the two animals in m/s?
b
How far could the cheetah travel in 10 seconds? Give your answer in metres.
c
How long would it take the sloth to travel the same distance? Give your answer in
seconds.
d
Approximately how many hours is your answer to part c?
How far would the car travel in 5 seconds at this speed?