what is the average speed of 40 mph , 50 mph, and 55 mph

Question

Need help on this for 8th grade math

Answer 1

I have no quarrel with Kemal's answer. But I will point out that a similar question might ask what is the average speed, given that these three different speeds were applicable over three distinct legs of a trip. Then the total miles driven divided by the total time would give the average speed for that trip, which very likely would be a different value than the simple average. (The legs of the trip would have to be described further, e.g. by length of time of each, or distance of each.)

Answer 2

Hi Danny,

 

Average is described as the sum of certain quantities divided by their count. So, in this case the average of the given speeds would be

avg = (40 + 50 + 55) / 3

= 145 / 3

= 48.3 (decimal 3 recurring, should be indicated by a bar above it but I don't know how to do it on this platform)