You are planning a road trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. The distance between these cities is 421 miles and Google Maps tells you it will take 6 hours and 1 minute. What is the average speed Google Maps is using to calculate this?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To solve problems that involve speed we use the formula: Distance = Rate x Time. We want to solve for rate (speed), so we rearrange the equation to isolate that variable. Rate = ^Distance/Time Next, we convert the time into hours. We know that we have 6 hours and 1 minute, so we need to convert the minute to a decimal. ^{1 minute}/₆₀ = 0.02 hours 6 hours + 0.02 hours = 6.02 hours Then we plug in our values: Rate = ^Distance/_Time = ^{421 miles}/_{6.02 hours} ^{421 miles}/_{6.02 hours} = 69.9 mph Finally, because we see the answers listed as whole numbers, we round the decimal to the nearest ones place. 69.9 = 70 mph

You Are Planning a Road Trip from Salt Lake City