5. Defining average speed

 

 

A vehicle may move at equal time intervalsfixed distancesame speed throughoutdifferent speeds during different parts of a journey. To find its average speed, we divide the total time taken by total distance travelledspeed multiplied by total timetotal distance travelled by the total time takenspeed divided by total time for the entire journey.

 

The formula is

\(Average\ speed\ =Speed\ \times Time\)\(Average\ speed\ = Total\ distance\ covered\ \div Total\ time\ taken\)\(Average\ speed\ = Distance\ \div Time\)\(Average\ speed\ = Total\ distance\ covered\ \times Total\ time\ taken\).

 

The vehicle may travel faster at some times and slower at others. Therefore, the calculated speed represents the speed at the starting pointoverall speed of the vehicle for the complete journeyspeed at the end of the journeyspeed shown by the odometer. It is called average speed because it considers the maximum speed and minimum speeddistance and accelerationtotal distance and total timeinitial distance and initial time, rather than the speed at any particular moment.