What does it mean?
A speed compares distance with time. An average speed of 20 km/h means the total distance divided by the total time is 20 kilometres per hour. It does not claim that the traveller moved at precisely that speed during every moment of the journey.
Average speed is total distance divided by total elapsed time. Use matching units: kilometres with hours for km/h, or metres with seconds for m/s. A constant-speed model also lets you find distance from speed × time.
Learning goal: Speed, distance and time. The grade is a suggested starting point; school sequences vary. Use the first worked example to check readiness, and Grade 6 ratio and unitary method: word problems explained if an earlier idea needs revisiting.
See the idea
Read each diagram with its labels, then follow the worked examples. Practice questions include their own measurements and information.
Enlarge diagram to read the labels
Swipe across the enlarged diagram to read every label.
Enlarge diagram to read the labels
Swipe across the enlarged diagram to read every label.
Choose a method and explain why it works
Use distance = speed × time, speed = distance ÷ time, and time = distance ÷ speed. Start from the quantities and units, rather than memorising positions in a triangle. Convert minutes to hours for a speed in km/h. For a constant-speed segment, two hours at 6 km/h covers 12 km.
Notation: speed = distance ÷ time
Key rule and when to use it
Average speed = total distance ÷ total elapsed time. Match distance and time units before calculating.
Worked examples, step by step
Example 1: A cyclist travels 6 km in 2 hours. Find the speed.
- Divide 6 km by 2 hours.
- Name the distance for one hour.
Answer: 3 km/h
Example 2: A bus travels 120 km in 3 hours. Find the speed.
- Divide 120 by 3.
- Attach kilometres per hour.
Answer: 40 km/h
Example 3: A walker covers 3 km in 30 minutes. Find the average speed in km/h.
- Convert 30 minutes to 0.5 hour.
- Average speed = 3 ÷ 0.5 = 6 km/h.
- Check: 6 km/h for half an hour covers 3 km.
Common mistakes and important boundaries
Do not treat 30 minutes as 0.30 hour: it is 30/60 = 0.5 hour. Average speed uses the full distance and the full elapsed time, including stops if the question includes them. The simple school model assumes a stated constant or average speed; it does not predict traffic or travel schedules.
A point to explain
Speed tells the distance travelled in one unit of time.
Compare an uncertain attempt with the closest worked example. Look at the meaning of each operation, unit and label before repeating the arithmetic.
Speed, Distance and Time Word Problems — practice
Work on paper first. Open each answer afterwards and compare the reasoning. Print the questions with or without the separate answer key; no account is required.
Name: ____________________ Date: __________
40 km in 2 h. Speed = ? km/h
Answer and a way to check
20
Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
10 km in 2 h. Speed = ? km/h
Answer and a way to check
5
Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
24 km in 4 h. Speed = ? km/h
Answer and a way to check
6
Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
15 km in 3 h. Speed = ? km/h
Answer and a way to check
5
Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
A bus travels 60 km in 3 hours. What is its average speed in km/h?
Answer and a way to check
20
Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
A cyclist travels at a constant 12 km/h for 2.5 hours. Find the distance.
Answer and a way to check
30 km
Distance = speed × time = 12 × 2.5 = 30 km.
A 90 km journey is made at a steady 30 km/h with no stops. Find the time.
Answer and a way to check
3 hours
Time = distance ÷ speed = 90 ÷ 30 = 3.
A runner covers 2 km in 20 minutes. Find the average speed in km/h.
Answer and a way to check
6 km/h
20 minutes is 1/3 hour. 2 ÷ (1/3) = 6 km/h, or three such 20-minute distances per hour.
Speed, Distance and Time Word Problems — answer key
20 Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
5 Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
6 Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
5 Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
20 Divide the total distance by the number of time units.
30 km Distance = speed × time = 12 × 2.5 = 30 km.
3 hours Time = distance ÷ speed = 90 ÷ 30 = 3.
6 km/h 20 minutes is 1/3 hour. 2 ÷ (1/3) = 6 km/h, or three such 20-minute distances per hour.
Questions students and parents ask
Why is 1 hour 30 minutes not 1.30 hours?
There are 60 minutes in an hour. Thirty minutes is 30/60 = 0.5 hour, so the total is 1.5 hours. Decimal place value does not use a base of 60.
Can I just average two journey speeds?
Not generally. Use total distance divided by total time. A simple arithmetic average works only in special conditions, such as spending equal times at each speed.
Is this a complete set of textbook exercise solutions?
No. This guide adapts BananaLearn’s own teaching examples and practice. It is not official NCERT material or a promise of the exact chapter sequence in a particular board, country or textbook edition.
What if the examples are still difficult?
Revisit Grade 6 ratio and unitary method: word problems explained. Try the first example with its model, then attempt one fresh question independently. A correct copied answer is not evidence that the method can be used without support.
Help at home
Ask which unit is expected in the final answer and make the time conversion explicit. Treat this as extension work if the school has not introduced rates.
Keep one example of the learner’s own working. A repeated difficulty across fresh questions can guide a discussion with their teacher; one short practice sheet does not establish a diagnosis or a full mastery profile.
Connect this idea to the next skill
About this guide
Based on BananaLearn’s Grade 5 course lesson “Speed, distance and time”. The explanations have been adapted for independent reading; course diagrams are reused where they fit the idea, and missing classroom givens are made explicit in questions.
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