Practicing calculating speed and velocity
1. Calculate the speed of a dog running through a field if he is
covering 23.7 meters in 54 seconds.
𝑑 23.7 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
S= =
𝑡
54 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
= 0.43 m/s
2. If a cross country runner covers a distance of 347 meters in 134
seconds what is her speed?
𝑑 347 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
S= =
= 2.59 m/s
𝑡 134 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
3. What is the speed of a baseball that travels 49 meters in 2.4
seconds?
𝑑 49 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
S= =
= 20.42 m/s
𝑡 2.4 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
4. What is the speed of a horse in meters per second that runs a
distance of 1.2 miles in 2.4 minutes?
1.2 miles x
5280 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡
x
0.3048 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
1 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒
60 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
2.4 minutes x
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒
𝑑 1931.2128 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
S= =
𝑡
144 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
1 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡
= 1931.2128 meters
= 144 seconds
= 13.41 m/s
5. Calculate the velocity of a car that travels 556 kilometers northeast in
3.4 hours. Leave your answer in kilometers per hour.
𝑑 556 𝑘𝑚
V= =
= 163.52 m/s northeast
𝑡 3.4 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
6. If the distance covered by a jogger is 2,541meters through the park
and the time it took to cover that distance was 43.6 minutes, what was
the speed of the jogger?
43.6 minutes x
𝑑
S= =
60 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
2541 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑡 2616 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒
= 2616 seconds
= 0.97 m/s
7. Which object has a greater velocity, a ball rolling down a 3.4 meter
hill in six seconds or a fish swimming upstream and covering 5.4 meters
in 0.4 minutes?
Ball rolling down hill
𝑑 3.4 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
V= =
𝑡
6 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
= 0.53 m/s down
Fish
60 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
0.4 minutes x
𝑑 5.4 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
V= =
𝑡 24 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒
= 24 seconds
= 0.225 m/s upstream
The ball rolling down the hill has a higher velocity
8. If Seneca decides to walk across town to a store that is .95
kilometers away and she has only 25 minutes to get there, what speed
does she need to maintain to arrive on time?
1000 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
0.95 kilometers x
= 950 meters
25 minutes x
𝑑
S= =
1 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
60 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒
950 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑡 1500 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
= 1500 seconds
= 0.63 m/s
9. If a projectile flies north 387 meters in 5.8 seconds, what is its
velocity?
𝑑 387 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
V= =
𝑡 5.8 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
= 66.74 m/s North
10. Calculate the velocity of a mountain climber if that climber is moving
northeast at a pace of 1.6 km in 1.4 hours? Give your answer in the
standard unit for velocity.
1.6
km =
1000 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
1.4 hours =
𝑑
S= =
1 𝑘𝑚
60 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
1600 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑡 5040 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
= 1600 meters
=
60 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
1 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒
= 5040 seconds
= 0.32 m/s northeast