Question

A small covers a distance of $100$ meter in $50$ hours. Calculate the average speed of the snail in $km{h^{ - 1}}$.

Answer 1

Here in this we know the distance covered and the time taken. First we have to convert the distance which is given in meters to kilometers as we have to calculate our solution in kilometers per hour. Then applying the average speed formula which is the ratio of distance covered to the time taken by the snail. Solving further we will get our solution.

Complete step by step answer:
As per the problem a snail covers a distance of $100$ meter in $50$ hours. We need to find the average speed of the snail in the given time. We know average speed can be calculated by dividing the total distance covered by the snail by the total time taken by the snail to cover that distance. We know, the total distance covered by the snail is equal to $100$ meter.

Now we have to convert this meter into kilometers as we have to find the average speed in $km{h^{ - 1}}$. We know,
$1\,km = 1000\,m$
Hence,
$1\,m = {10^{ - 3}}\,km$
Now $100\,m$ equals,
$100\,m = 100 \times {10^{ - 3}}\,km$

Now applying average speed formula we will get,
Average speed = ratio of total distance to total time
$vavg = \dfrac{d}{t}$
Where, average speed is equal to $v_{avg}$. Total distance is equal to $d$ and time taken is equal to $t$.

Now putting the known values in the average speed formula we will get,
$v_{avg} = \dfrac{{100 \times {{10}^{ - 3}}kg}}{{50\,hours}}$
$\Rightarrow v_{avg} = \dfrac{{{{10}^{ - 1}}kg}}{{50\,hours}} \\\ \therefore v_{avg} = 0.002\,km{h^{ - 1}}$

Therefore, the average speed is equal to $0.002\,km{h^{ - 1}}$.

Note: Speed of an object or a body defines how fast something is going at a particular time or moment. Remember that average speed measures the average rate of speed over the extent of a trip. Average speed is scale quantity whereas average velocity is vector quantity.