PHYSICS
GRADE: 12TH
SPEED PROBLEMS
DUE DATE: 05-09-2014
A bicyclist travels 60.0 kilometers in 3.5 hours. What
is the cyclist’s average speed?
2. What is the average speed of a car that traveled
300.0 miles in 5.5 hours?
3. How much time would it take for the sound of
thunder to travel 1,500 meters if sound travels at a speed of 330 m/sec?
4. How much time would it take for an airplane to
reach its destination if it traveled at an average speed of 790 kilometers/hour
for a distance of 4,700 kilometers? What is the airplane’s speed in miles/
hour?
5. How far can a person run in 15 minutes if he or she
runs at an average speed of 16 km/hr?
(HINT: Remember to convert minutes to hours.)
6. In problem 5, what is the runner’s distance
traveled in miles?
7. A snail can move approximately 0.30 meters per minute.
How many meters can the snail cover in 15 minutes?
8. You know that there are 1,609 meters in a mile. The
number of feet in a mile is 5,280. Use these equalities to answer the following
problems:
a. How many centimeters equals one inch?
b. What is the speed of the snail in problem 7 in
inches per minute?
9. Calculate the average speed (in km/h) of a car
stuck in traffic that drives 12 kilometers in 2 hours.
10. How long would it take you to swim across a lake
that is 900 meters across if you swim at 1.5 m/sec?
a. What is the answer in seconds?
b. What is the answer in minutes?
11. How far will a you travel if you run for 10
minutes at 2 m/sec?
12. You have trained all year for a marathon. In your
first attempt to run a marathon, you decide that you want to complete this
26-mile race in 4.5 hours.
a. What is the length of a marathon in kilometers (1
mile = 1.6 kilometers)?
b. What would your average speed have to be to
complete the race in 4.5 hours? Give your answer in kilometers per hour.
13. Suppose you are walking home after school. The
distance from school to your home is five kilometers. On foot, you can get home
in 25 minutes. However, if you rode a bicycle, you could get home in 10
minutes.
a. What is your average speed while walking?
b. What is your average speed while bicycling?
c. How much faster you travel on your bicycle?
14. Suppose you ride your bicycle to the library
traveling at 0.5 km/min. It takes you 25 minutes to get to the library. How far
did you travel?
15. You ride your bike for a distance of 30 km. You
travel at a speed of 0.75 km/ minute. How many minutes does this take?
16. A train travels 225 kilometers in 2.5 hours. What
is the train’s average speed?
17. An airplane travels 3,260 kilometers in 4 hours.
What is the airplane’s average speed?
18. A person in a kayak paddles down river at an
average speed of 10 km/h. After 3.25 hours, how far has she traveled?
19. The same person in question 18 paddles upstream at
an average speed of 4 km/h. How long would it take her to get back to her
starting point?
20. An airplane travels from St. Louis to Portland,
Oregon in 4.33 hours. If the distance traveled is 2,742 kilometers, what is the
airplane’s average speed?
21. The airplane returns to St. Louis by the same
route. Because the prevailing winds push the airplane along, the return trip
takes only 3.75 hours. What is the average speed for this trip?
22. The airplane refuels in St. Louis and continues on
to Boston. It travels at an average speed of 610 km/h. If the trip takes 2.75
hours, what is the flight distance between St. Louis and Boston?
23. The speed of light is about 3.00 × 105 km/s. It takes approximately 1.28 seconds
for light reflected from the
moon to reach Earth. What is the average distance from
Earth to the moon?
24. The average distance from the sun to Pluto is
approximately 6.10 × 109 km. How
long does it take light from
the
sun to reach Pluto? Use the speed of light from the previous question to help
you.
