The car traveled 1/4 of the way at a speed of 108 km / h, and the rest of the way at a speed
The car traveled 1/4 of the way at a speed of 108 km / h, and the rest of the way at a speed of 72 km / h. Find the average vehicle speed.
Let’s take the entire path that the car has traveled for X.
Then the length of the path (x1) that the car traveled at a speed of 108 km / h is:
x1 = t1 * 108, where t1 is the time it took for the car to cover this distance (in hours).
x1 = 0.25 * X;
0.25 * X = t1 * 108;
t1 = 0.25 * X / 108.
The length of the path (x2) that the car traveled at a speed of 72 km / h is:
x2 = t2 * 72, where t2 is the time it took for the car to cover this distance (in hours).
x2 = 0.75 * X;
0.75 * X = t2 * 72;
t2 = 0.75 * X / 72.
The average speed is determined as the quotient of dividing the entire path X by the entire time (t1 + t2):
Vav = X / (t1 + t2);
Vav = X / (0.25 * X / 108 + 0.75 * X / 72);
Vav = X / (0.25 * 2 * X / 216 + 0.75 * 3 * X / 216);
Vav = X * 216 / (0.5 * X + 2.25 * X);
Vav = 216 / (0.5 + 2.25);
Vav = 216 / 2.75;
Vav = 96 km / h.
Answer: the average speed of the car for the entire journey was 96 km / h.