Question

Starting at home, Michael traveled uphill to the gift store for 242424 minutes at just 101010 mph. He then traveled back home along the same path downhill at a speed of 303030 mph.
What is his average speed for the entire trip from home to the gift store and back?

Answer 1

Let the distance of the gift store from home is x mile.

Step 1. Finding the value of x

• Michael took 24 minutes to travel uphill at a speed of 10 mph.
• Then distance travelled = 24 * 10 miles = 240 miles
• Therefore, x = 240 miles.

Step 2. Finding time to travel downhill

• Downhill path = 240 miles
• Speed = 30 mph
• Then time taken = 240 / 30 = 8 minutes

Step 3. Finding average speed

• Total path travelled = 2 * 240 miles = 480 miles
• Total time taken = 24 + 8 minutes = 32 minutes
• Therefore average speed = total path / total time = 480 / 32 mph = 15 mph

∴ Michael's average speed for the entire trip from home to the gift store and back is 15 mph.