Speed Time Distance Complete Note
Speed Time Distance Complete Note
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1
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Speed, Time and Distance: Speed, basically tells us how fast or slow an object moves.
It is described as the distance travelled by an object divided with the time taken to cover
that distance.
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 =
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞
This shows that Speed is directly proportional to distance but inversely proportional to
time.
Distance = Speed x Time
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 =
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝
From above given equations we can draw three important conclusions:
1. Distance remains constant: If P travels a distance D with S1 speed in T1 time and Q
travels the same distance D with S2 speed in T2 time. Then,
D = S1 x T 1 = S 2 x T 2
2. Time remains constant:
𝑫𝟏 𝑺𝟏
=
𝑫𝟐 𝑺𝟐
3. Speed remains constant:
𝑫𝟏 𝑻𝟏
=
𝑫𝟐 𝑻𝟐
Average Speed:
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 =
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏
Note: Average speed is not the arithmetic mean of the given speeds.
Case 1: When Time is Constant.
The average speed of travelling at two different speeds for the same time span is just
the simple average of two speeds.
Let Speed 1 be x km/hr
Let Speed 2 be y km/hr
Therefore,
𝒙+𝒚
Average Speed (when time is constant) =
𝟐
Example 1: A car is travelling at an average speed of 45 kmph for the 1st hour and at
65 kmph for the next 1 hour. Calculate his average speed.
Solution: As the time is same for both the cases, i.e. 1 hour,
𝟒𝟓+𝟔𝟓
Average speed = = 55 km/h.
𝟐
2
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Solution:
Let distance = x km
𝑥
Therefore, Time taken on Randhir’s onward journey = hours and
30
𝑥
Time taken on his return journey = hours
45
Therefore,
𝑥 𝑥
total time = ( ) + ( ) hours.
30 45
Total distance = 2x km
𝟐𝐱
Average speed= 𝐱 𝐱 km/h = 36 kmph
( )+( )
𝟑𝟎 𝟒𝟓
𝐒𝟏 𝐓𝟐
=√
𝐒𝟐 𝐓𝟏