28 Apr Time, Speed and Distance Formula

At Miracle Learning Centre, we teach you interesting stuff in maths tuition. In this maths tuition, we are going to take a look at the topic of time, speed and distance. We are going to learn the basic concepts and see how to apply these concepts to solve problems. This article discusses about the application of algebra to solve problems related to time, speed and distance. As a result, in order to understand the topics discussed here, you should already be familiar with the concepts of equations and basic algebra.

We shall start from the basics. The most frequently used formula for problems related to time, speed and distance is the following one:
s = v. t

Where s = distance covered

v = speed

t = time taken

Now, let us see with an example how to apply this formula. Assume that you are travelling at 10 kilometers / hour and you continue for 3 hours. How much distance have you travelled?

In order to find out, we can simply plug-in the values to the above equation:

s = v.t

s = (10).(3) = 30

So, we see that the distance travelled in this case is 30 kilometers.

There is one thing which needs to be mentioned here. Notice carefully the units for speed as well as the time. The speed has the unit kilometer per hour. The time has hour as the unit. As a result, we can simply plug-in those values without the need of conversion. However, where these units differ, we will have to make sure we do the correct conversion. Let us see this with an example.

Consider this problem: Suppose you are travelling at 20 meters / second. How many hours will it take you to cover72 kilometers?

In this case, notice that the speed is given in meters /second whereas the questions asks about the time in hours. Further, the distance which has to be covered is given in kilometers. For solving these kinds of problems where units differ, the first thing we will have to do is to make sure the units are same. In order to do this, we will have to first choose a common unit and convert everything. Only after the conversion and making sure that everything is in the same unit, we can plug the values into the equation.

So, for this case, first we will convert everything. First decide on a unit. Since the question asks us to find the time in hours, we will convert the unit of distance to meters (from kilometers) and the unit for time to hours (from seconds). In this way, the all the mentioned units for distance will become meters and the unit for time will become hours.

So, distance covered, s = 72 kilometers = 72 x 1000 = 72,000 meters.

Similarly, speed, v = 20 meters / second = 20 x 3600 = 72000 meters / hour

Plugging in these values:

s = v.t

72000 = (72000).t
t = 1
So, the time required to cover the distance will be 1 hour (since we converted the distance of time to hours if you remember).

So, in this math tuition, we have seen how to apply basic algebra to solve simple problems related to time, speed and distance. In case you face any difficulty in understanding the topics discussed above, do not hesitate to seek help from your peers or your teacher at math tuition. We hope you enjoyed this math tuition from Miracle Learning Centre. Look out for the next math tuition from Miracle Learning Centre.