A motorcyclist drives from A to B with a uniform speed of 30 km/h and returns back with a speed of 20 km/h. Find its average speed.

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: September 25th, 2023

A motorcyclist drives from A to B with a uniform speed of 30 km/h and returns back with a speed of 20 km/h. Its average speed is 24 km/h. Steps to calculate the average speed of motorcyclist drives:

Step 1: Given that,

Motorcyclist speed from A to B = 30 km/h

Motorcyclist speed from B to A = 20 km/h

Let the distance from A to B is D km.

Distance for the entire journey is 2D km.

Step 2: The formula used to calculate T

Time is taken (T) = Distance (D) / Speed (v)

Step 3. Now we have to calculate T

So, the total time taken T is

T = (D/30) + (D/20)

= (2D + 3D)/60

= 5D/60

= D/12 hours

Therefore Average speed = Total distance/Total time.

Average speed = 2D/D/12 = (2D x 12)/D = 24 km/h

Table of content

1. A motorcyclist drives from A to B with a uniform speed of 30 km/h and returns back with a speed of 20 km/h. Find its average speed.

Average Speed

The distance travelled in relation to the time it took to travel that distance is how speed is defined. Since speed simply has a direction and no magnitude, it is a scalar quantity.

There are four types of speed and they are:

A moving object is considered to be moving at a consistent speed when it travels the same distance in the same amount of time.
When an object travels a different distance at regular intervals, it is said to be moving at a variable pace.
Average speed is the average speed determined by the ratio of the total distance travelled by an object to the entire amount of time it took to travel that distance.
Instantaneous speed: The speed of an object at any given moment when it is travelling at a variable speed is referred to as the object’s instantaneous speed.

Consequently, the motorcycle’s average speed is 24 km/h.

Summary: