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 The basic formulas include:
i) Speed=Distance/Time
ii) Time=Distance/speed
iii) Distance = speed × time

• To convert a speed given in m/s into a speed in km/h, multiply with 18/5.

• To convert a speed given in km/h into a speed in m/s, multiply with 5/18

1. Proggo started walking at 2:25 pm. He walked down the road for half an hour at an average speed
of 3 miles per hour. He waited 10 minutes for a bus there, which brought him back to his starting
point at 3:15 the same afternoon. What was the average speed of the bus?

a. a. 1.5 miles per hour b.3 miles per hour c. 4.5 miles per hour
d. 6 miles per hour e. 9 miles per hour

2. A motorboat travels twice as fast when empty as when it is full. It travels 20 miles north with a
cargo, spends half an hour for unloading, and returns to its original port empty, taking 8 hours to
complete the entire trip. What is the speed of the motorboat when it is empty?

a. 3.75 mph b. 4 mph c. 7.5 mph d. 8 mph e. None of these

3. Walking at a constant rate of 4 miles per hour, it takes Disha exactly one hour to walk home from
school. If she walks at a constant rate of 5 miles per hour, how many minutes will the trip take?

a. 36 b. 48 c. 54 d. 72 e. 96

Average speed:
Average speed of an object is defined as the ratio of the total distance covered to the total time
taken. Mainly there are two different types of questions based on the concept of average speed.
The first type is when a body travels the same distance at different speeds i.e. the distance is
constant. And the second is when a body travels at different speeds, each speed for equal
duration i.e. the time is constant.

Average speed when the distance is constant

A body is traveling constant distance with two different speed say X and Y respectively then the
average speed for its entire journey is the harmonic mean of X and Y.

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1. A bus went 300 miles from Dhaka to Khulna at an average rate of 80 mph. At what speed did it
travel on the way back if its average speed for the whole trip was 100 mph?

a. 120 mph b. 125 mph e. 150 mph

c. mph d. mph
2. A man travels for 6 hours at a rate of 50 miles per hour. His return trip takes him 9 hours. What is
his average speed for the whole trip?

a. 35.5 mph b. 40 mph c. 44.44 mph d. 45 mph e. 50 mph

3. A man travels for 8 hours at a rate of 100 miles per hour. If his average speed for the whole trip is
80 miles per hour, then how long does his return trip take?

a. 8 hours b. 9 hours c. 10 hours d. 12 hours e. 15 hours

Average speed when the time is constant

When the time remains same and the distance varies,
Average speed = (x+y)/2 [x & y are speeds]
Distance is directly proportional to Velocity when time is constant
Example:
A car travels at 30km/hr for the first 2 hrs & then 40km/hr for the next 2hrs. Find the ratio of
distance travelled
S1/S2=V1/V2=3/4
Example:
Two cars leave simultaneously from points A & B (100km apart) & they meet at a point 40 km
from A. What is Va/Vb?
Time is constant so V1/V2=S1/S2=40/60=4/6
Example:
A train meets with an accident and moves at (3/4)th its original speed. Due to this, it is 20 min
late. Find the original time for the journey beyond the point of accident?
Method1:
Think about 2 diff. situations, 1st with accident and another w/o accident. As distance in both the
cases is constant

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So V1/V2=T2/T1
=>V1/[(3/4)∗V1]=[T1+20]/T1
=> 4/3=[T1+20]/T1
=>T1=60
Method 2:
Velocity decreases by 25% (3/4 of original speed => decrement by 1/4) so time will increase by
33.3% (4/3 of original time => increment by 1/3)
now, 33.3%=20min
=>100%=60 min

Relative Speed
Case 1:
Two bodies are moving in opposite directions at speed V1V1 & V2respectively. The relative
speed is defined as Vr=V1+V2
Case 2:
Two bodies are moving in same directions at speed V1 & V2 respectively. The relative speed is
defined as Vr=|V1−V2|

Train Problems
The basic equation in train problem is the same Speed=Distance/Time
The following things need to be kept in mind while solving the train related problems.

• When the train is crossing a moving object, the speed has to be taken as the relative speed
of the train with respect to the object.
• The distance to be covered when crossing an object, whenever trains crosses an object
will be equal to: Length of the train + Length of the object
• If two trains of length a metres and b metres are moving in opposite directions at u m/s
and v m/s, then:
(a + b)
The time taken by the trains to cross each other = sec.
(u + v)
• If two trains of length a metres and b metres are moving in the same direction at u m/s
and v m/s, then:
(a + b)
The time taken by the faster train to cross the slower train = sec.
(u - v)

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 1. A train 100 meters long, travelling at 48 km/h, completely crosses a bridge in 30
seconds. How long is the bridge?

a. 100 m b. 150 m c. 200 m d. 300 m e. 500 m

17 2. Two trains are running on the same route at the rate of 25 and 30 miles per hour. If
the first train starts out an hour earlier, how long will it take the second train to catch
up with it?
a. 5 hrs b. 4 hrs c. 3 hrs d. 2 hrs e. None of these

18.3. A train 270 meters long is moving at a speed of 25 km/hr. How long will it take to
cross a man coming from the opposite direction at a speed of 2 km/hr?

A a. 36 sec b. 32 sec c. 28 sec d. 24 sec e. 16 sec

4. A motorist travels x miles in y hours and z minutes. What is his average speed in
miles per hour?
a. x/(y+60z) b. (60y+z)/x c. 60x/(y+z) d. 60x/(60y+z) e. none of these

Boats and stream problems

Let,
U= Velocity of the boat in still water
V= Velocity of the stream.
Upstream:
While moving in upstream, distance covered, distance covered, S=(U−V) T
Downstream:
In case of downstream, distance covered, distance covered, S=(U+V) T

1. A man rowed 3 miles upstream in 90 minutes. If the river flowed with a current of 2 miles per
hour, how long did the man's return trip take?
a. 20 b. 30 c. 45 d. 60 e . 80 minutes
minutes minutes minutes minutes

2. A certain river has a current of 3 miles per hour. A boat takes twice as long to travel upstream
between two points as it does to travel downstream between the same two points. What is the speed
of the boat in still water?
a. 3 mph b. 6 mph c. 9 mph d. 12 mph e. Cannot be determined

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 3. A boat sailing against the current takes 8 hours to travel 32 km. If it had been sailing with the
current the time taken would have been only 4 hours. What is the speed of current?
a. 3 km/hr b. 2.5 km/hr c. 2 km/hr d. 1 km/hr e. None of these

4. A boat travels for three hours with a current of 3 mph and then returns the same distance against
the current in 4 hours. What is the boat's speed in calm water?
a. 18 mph b. 21 mph c. 24 mph d. 27 mph e. 30 mph

Practice problems

1. Two trains running in the same direction at 40 km/hr and 22 km/hr completely pass one another
in 1 minute. If the length of the first train is 125 meters, what is the length of the second train?
d. 175 m e. 133 m
b. 150 m c. 200 m
A a. 125 m

2. Two trains are running on parallel lines in the same direction at a speed of 50 km/hr and 30
km/hr respectively. The faster train crosses a man sitting in the slower train in 18 seconds. What
is the length of the faster train?

a. 170 m b. 100 m c. 98 m d. 85 m e. 64 m

3. A train crosses a 400 meter long fly-over in 1 minute and a lamp post in 10 seconds. What is
the length of the train?

a. 50 m b. 60 m c. 80 m d. 100 m
E e. Cannot be determined

4. A train leaves Omar's house and travels at 50 miles per hour. Two hours later, another train
leaves from Omar's house on the track parallel to the first train but it travels at 100 miles per hour.
How far away from Omar's house will the faster train pass the other train?

a. 100 miles b. 150 miles c. 200 miles d. 300 miles e. 500 miles

5. A man can row 5 km/h in still water. The current in the river is running at 1 km/h. If it takes him
75 minutes to row to a place and back, how far is the place?

a. 3 km b. 2.5 km c. 4 km d. 5 km e. None of these

6. In one hour, a boat goes 11 km/hr along the stream and 5 km/hr against the stream. The speed
of the boat in still water (in km/hr) is:

a. a. 3 km/hr b. 5 km/hr c. 8 km/hr d. 9 km/hr e. None of these

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7. A boat can travel with a speed of 13 km/hr in still water. If the speed of the stream is 4 km/hr,
find the time taken by the boat to go 68 km downstream.

a. 2 hours b. 3 hours c. 4 hours d. 5 hours e. 6 hours

8. A boatman goes 2 km against the current in 1 hour and goes 1 km with the current in 10 minutes.
How long will it take to go 5 km in still water?

a. 45 minute b. 1 hour c. 1 hr 15 min d. 1 hr 30 min e. None

9. A hiker walked up a mountain path from a way station to an observation point and back to the
way station by the same route. His average speed for the ascent was 2 miles per hour, and his
average speed for the descent was 4 miles per hour. If the observation point is exactly 3 miles from
the way station, what was the hiker’s average speed, in miles per hour, for the entire trip?

c. 3
a. b. d. e.

10. Taqi walks 15 blocks to work every morning at a rate of 2 miles per hour. If there are 20 blocks
in a mile, how long does it take him to walk to work?

a. 12.5 minutes b. 15 minutes

C c. 22.5 minutes d. 37.5 minutes e. 45 minutes

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