John traveled 117 miles in 2.25 hours. What us the average speed that he was traveling. If he traveled at this same speed. how many miles would he travel in 3.5

Question

show work 6th Grade

Answer 1

• To find out John's average speed in miles per hour (mph) we need to find out how many miles he has traveled in 1 hour as if he was going at a constant speed (this constant speed will be equal the average speed, regardless if he was actually traveleing at a constant speed or not)
• If I told you that I traveled 120 miles in 2 hours at a constant speed, it wouldn't take long before you figure out that must mean that I traveled 60 miles in 1 hour, and that's the pattern; you divide the number of miles by the number of hours!

 117 miles  = 52 miles , which is rewritten as 52 mph, his average speed.

2.25 hours      1 hour

 

If he travels 52 miles in 1 hour, imagine him traveling that far for another hour, and another hour after that, and one more half hour....... or you could just multiply by 3.5 :)

 

52 miles × 3.5 hours = 52 miles × 3.5 hours = 52 × 3.5 miles = 182 miles he would travel at that speed

 1 hour                         1 hour            1                    1

 

When you show your units along with the numbers given in your work, and they "cancel out" to give you the correct units you need for your answer, that a good way to make sure you probably did it correctly.

Hope this helps!

-Frank

Answer 2

speed = distance/time = (117 miles)/(2.25 hours) = 52 miles/hour

 

After 3.5 hours,

 

distance = speed x time = (52 miles/hour) x (3.5 hours) = 182 miles