A car travels 60 miles in 1.5 hours. What is its speed?

Question

Word problems involving distance, rate, and time can feel tricky because sometimes we don't always know which formula to use. What’s the best way to approach this?

Answer 1

The general formula to use here is

speed = distance/time, where both distance and time can be expressed in different relevant units (for example, miles per hour for speedometer readings or meters per second, which are SI units).

In the given particular example, we find the speed of the car by dividing the distance it travels by the time it takes:

speed = 60 miles / 1.5 hours = 40 miles per hour (or 40 mph).

As long as we know the values of the two variables involved in the expression, we can readily find the third.

Example flipped question: For a car traveling at a constant speed of 40 miles per hour, how many miles can it travel in 1.5 hours?

Answer: We use the general formula:

speed = distance/time

We want to find the distance, so we multiply both sides by 'time' to get:

distance = speed x time

distance = 40 miles/hour x 1.5 hours = 60 miles.

Answer 2

The underlying formula that you want to use on this one is that

Speed = Distance / Time

On this one we're given Distance = 60 miles and Time = 1.5 hours, meaning that

Speed = 60 miles / 1.5 hours = 40 mph

Answer 3

Answer 4

Now that you're in Algebra 1, it's important to learn how to use an equation and solving techniques for problems involving formulas. Doing this will help, not only in your math classes, but in science, too.

You'll need to use the distance equation:

or

Substitute the information that you know:

Then solve the equation:

Always include your units on word problems! Since our distance was in miles and time was in hours, our answer is 40 m/h.

Answer 5

This is a classic distance = rate × time problem!

We’re given:

1. Distance = 60 miles
2. Time = 1.5 hours
3. We’re asked for rate (speed), so we rearrange the formula:

Rate = Distance ÷ Time

Rate = 60 ÷ 1.5 = 40 miles per hour

✅ Final Answer: 40 mph

🧠 Tip: I teach students to remember D = R × T (like “Dirt”) and rearrange it based on what you’re solving for. Triangle diagrams help too!

Answer 6

The general formula involving speed, distance and time is: distance = speed * time

Since we're given distance and time we are solving for speed. To solve for speed we need to rearrange the formula by dividing both sides by time. This gives us speed = (distance)/(time). The distance is 60 miles and the time is 1.5 hours. So our speed is (60 miles) / (1.5 hours) = 40 miles per hour which is our final answer.

A shortened way to write this is 40 mph.

Answer 7

Formula for speed (rate):

rate = distance ÷ time

Given:

distance = 60 miles

time = 1.5 hours

rate = 60 miles ÷ 1.5 hours = 40 mph

Therefore, speed = 40 mph.

Answer 8

d=rt

r =d/t = 60/1.5 = 600/15 = 40 mph

= 40/60 = 2/3 of a mile per minute