Question 13 Marks
A motorcyclist drives from place $A$ to $B$ with a uniform speed of $30\ km\ h^{-1}$ and returns from place $B$ to $A$ with a uniform speed of $20\ km\ h^{-1}.$ Find his average speed.
Answer
View full question & answer→Speed from $A$ to $B = 30\ km/h.$
Let the distance from $A$ and $B$ be $D.$
Time taken to travel from $A$ to $B,$
$\text{T}_1=\frac{\text{Distance travelled}}{\text{Speed}}$ $\text{T}_1=\frac{\text{D}}{30}$
Speed taken $B$ to $A = 20\ km/h$ Time taken to travel from $B$ to $A,$ $\text{T}_2=\frac{\text{Distance travelled}}{\text{Speed}}=\frac{\text{D}}{20}$
Total time taken, $T = T_1 + T_2 =\frac{\text{D}}{30}+\frac{\text{D}}{20}=\frac{\text{D}}{12}$
Total distance from $A$ to $B$ and from $B$ to $A = 2D$
Average speed $=\frac{\text{Total distance travelled}}{\text{Total time taken}}=\frac{2\text{D}}{\frac{\text{D}}{12}}=24\text{km/h}$
Let the distance from $A$ and $B$ be $D.$
Time taken to travel from $A$ to $B,$
$\text{T}_1=\frac{\text{Distance travelled}}{\text{Speed}}$ $\text{T}_1=\frac{\text{D}}{30}$
Speed taken $B$ to $A = 20\ km/h$ Time taken to travel from $B$ to $A,$ $\text{T}_2=\frac{\text{Distance travelled}}{\text{Speed}}=\frac{\text{D}}{20}$
Total time taken, $T = T_1 + T_2 =\frac{\text{D}}{30}+\frac{\text{D}}{20}=\frac{\text{D}}{12}$
Total distance from $A$ to $B$ and from $B$ to $A = 2D$
Average speed $=\frac{\text{Total distance travelled}}{\text{Total time taken}}=\frac{2\text{D}}{\frac{\text{D}}{12}}=24\text{km/h}$


