A policeman walks on his beat back and forth. His average speed is determined from
A) his velocity divided by the time.
B) time divided by how far he ends up from the starting point.
C) his total distance covered divided by the time.
D) time divided by his total distance covered.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The average speed of the policeman is determined by dividing his total distance covered (which is the distance he walks back and forth) by the time he takes to complete the back and forth movements. This gives us the average speed in distance per time, which is the correct way to calculate average speed.

A Policeman Walks on His Beat Back and Forth