DEPARTMENT OF CAREER

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

SUBJECT: QUANTATIVE
APTITUDE

TIME, SPEED AND DISTANCE DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER

 TIME, SPEED AND
DISTANCE
Course Outcome
CO Number Title Level

CO1 Students will be able to Understand

understand the concept of
average speed.
CO2 Conversion of units form Remember
m/sec to km/hr.
Source: images (259×194) (gstatic.com)
CO3 Students will be able to Understand
understand the concept of
relative speed.

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INTRODUCTION
Time (SI unit - seconds) and distance (SI unit - meters)
are fundamental quantities of measurement. For a
distance ‘d’ covered in a time duration ‘t', the average
speed ‘s’ or simply the speed is defined as the rate of
covering the given distance or distance covered per unit
time. Therefore, the formula for Time Speed &
Distance is: Speed = Distance / Time
This means,
Distance = Speed x Time
Time = Distance / Speed
Objectives
• Average Speed
• Relative Speed Source: images (287×175) (gstatic.com)
• Meeting Points

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 Relationship between Time, Speed & Distance
 
From the previous slide, the following can be concluded about the
relations between Time Speed and Distance:
 
• If two bodies move at the same speed, the distances covered by them
are (directly) proportionality to the times of travel. i.e. when s is
constant.
• If two bodies move for the same time period, the distances covered by
them are (directly) proportional to the speeds of travel. i.e. when t is
constant.
• If two bodies move for the same distance, their times of travel are
inversely proportional to the speeds of travel. i.e. when d is constant.
 
 Time, Speed & Distance Conversions
 
• To convert from km / hour to m / sec, we multiply by 5 / 18. So, 1 km / hour = 5 / 18 m / sec
• To convert from m / sec to km / hour, we multiply by 18 / 5. So, 1 m / sec = 18 / 5 km / hour = 3.6
km / hour
• Similarly, 1 km/ hr = 5/8 miles/hour
• 1 yard = 3 feet
• 1 kilometre = 1000 meters = 0.6214 mile
• 1 mile= 1.609 kilometre
• 1 hour= 60 minutes= 60*60 seconds= 3600 seconds
• 1 mile = 1760 yards
• 1 yard = 3 feet
• 1 mile = 5280 feet
• 1 mph = (1 x 1760) / (1 x 3600) = 22/45 yards/sec
• 1 mph = (1 x 5280) / (1 x 3600) = 22/15 ft/sec
• For a certain distance, if the ratio of speeds is a: b, then the ratio of times taken to cover the distance
would be b: a and vice versa.
 AVERAGE SPEED
When a body travels different distances at different speeds, the average
speed is the amount of time taken to travel the total distance in total time,
Therefore, the formula for Time Speed Distance is:

Case I – When the distance is constant: Average speed = 2xy / (x+y);

Where, x and y are the two speeds at which the same distance has been
covered.

Case II – When the time taken is constant: Average speed = (x + y) / 2;

Where, x and y are the two speeds at which we travelled for the same
time.
Examples on Average Speed
Example: A cyclist travels at 15 km/hr for 2 hours and then at 12
km/hr for 1 hour. Find his average speed?

Solution: Distance travelled in first 2 hours =15 × 2 = 30 km.

Distance travelled in next 1 hour =12 × 1 = 12 km.
Total Distance travelled = 12 + 30 = 42 km. Total time taken = 2 + 1 =
3 hrs.
Average Speed =Total Distance Travelled/Total Time Taken =42/3 = 14
km/hr.

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Examples on Average Speed
Example: A motorist travels one hour at an average speed of 30
kmph and the next hour at an average speed of 50 kmph. Then
what is his average speed?

Solution: The total distance traveled by the motorist in these two hours

= 30 + 50 = 80 km and he has taken two hours.
Therefore, his average speed = (30 + 50) ÷ 2 = 40 kmph.

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 RELATIVE SPEED

Normally the speed of a moving body is calculating as per a stationary

object, or the calculation of speed is as per a stationary base. When speed
of one moving body in relation with another moving body then the
effective speed of both the movements is called the relative speed of these
two moving bodies
1. Bodies moving in opposite direction
2. Bodies moving in the same direction.
If the speed of first moving body is V1 and the speed of second moving body is V2,
they start simultaneously and moving in the same direction then their relative speed
is |V1−V2|.

If the speed of first moving object is V1 and the speed of the second moving object
is V2 and they are travelling in the opposite directions, start simultaneously, then
the relative speed=V1+V2
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Examples on Relative Speed
Example: The distance between two cities A and B is 130 km. A
motorcycle rider starts from A towards B at 7 am at a speed of 20
km/hr. Another motorcyclist starts from B towards A at 8 am at a
speed of 35 km/hr. At what time will they cross each other?

Solution:
In one hour, the earlier rider covers a distance of 20 km.
The distance between the two = 130 – 20 = 110 km.
Hence, the two riders approach each other with a relative speed of 20 +
35 = 55 kmph.
The time taken = 110/55 = 2 hrs. Therefore, they meet each other at (8
+ 2) = 10 am. 11
Examples on Relative Speed
Example: Two men A and B start walking simultaneously from P to
Q, a distance of 42 kms, at the speeds of 6 km and 8 km an hour
respectively. B reaches Q, returns immediately and meets A at R.
Then the distance from P to R is :

Solution: Let the distance of R from Q be x km.

Thus, according to question
Time taken by man A to move from P to R = time taken by man B to
move from P to Q and then return from Q to R
i.e.  (42 – x)/ 6 = (42 + x)/ 8 ⇒ 8(42 – x) = 6(42 + x)
⇒ 336 – 8x = 252 + 6x ⇒ 14x = (336 – 252)
⇒ 14x = 84 ∴ x = 84/14 = 6 km
Thus, the distance from P to R is (42 – 6) = 36 km. 12
Examples on Meeting point
Example: A Train T1 starts from Ahmedabad to Mumbai at 9 am
and reaches at 2 pm. A second train T2 starts at 9 am from
Mumbai reaches Ahmedabad at 3 pm. When did the two train cross
each other ?

Solution:
Let the distance be x between the two stations.
Train T1 takes 5 hours to reach Mumbai.
Train T2 takes 6 hours to reach Ahmedabad.
Relative speed of both the train will be added = x/5 + x/ 6 = 11x/30
Time taken = (x/11) / (x/30) = 30/11
or, (30 X 60 )/11 =~ 2.43 hours
so 7 + 2.43 = 9.43 am 13
 SOLVED EXAMPLE
Example: A man walks 8 km at a speed of 2 1/2 kmph, runs 12 km at a speed of 4
kmph and goes by bus another 32 km. Speed of the bus is 8 kmph. Find the average
speed of the man.

Solution:
Man walked 8 km at 2.5 kmph, again he walked 8 km at speed of 2 kmph and 32 km at  a
speed of 8 kmph
Time taken by him respectively are:
=> 8/2.5 = 3.2 hrs
=> 12/4 = 3 hrs
=> 32/8 = 4 hrs
Average speed of man= total distance/ total time
=> 44/10.2 = 4.31
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 SOLVED EXAMPLE
Example: A train starts from Delhi at 8.00 a.m. and reaches Meerut at 12 noon. The other
train starts from Meerut at 10 a.m. and reaches Delhi at 01:30 p.m. If the distance between
Delhi and Meerut is 200 km, then at what time did the two trains meet each other?

Solution:
The Speed of the train starting from Delhi = 200/4 = 50 km/h
The Speed of train starting from Meerut = 200/3.5 = 400/7 km/h
Suppose the two trains meet x hours after 6.00 am
Then x X 50 + (x - 2) x 400/7 = 200
or, 350x + 400x - 800 = 1400
or, 750x = 2200
or, x = 2200/750 = 2h 56 min
Hence, the required time = 8.56 am

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 SOLVED EXAMPLE
Example: A train does a journey without stopping in 16 hours. If it had traveled 10 km
an hour faster, it would have done the journey in 6 hours 40 min. What is its slower
speed?

Solution:
Let its slower speed = V km per hour
Here distance is same in both the cases
Using the formula = V1 x t1 = V2 x t2 
or, V x 16 = (V + 10) x 20/3
or, 12V = (V + 10) x 5 
V= 7.14 km/h
Thus, Slower speed of train is 7.14 km/h.

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 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. A man covered a certain distance at some speed. Had he moved 5 kmph faster, he would have taken 30
minutes less. If he had moved 3 kmph slower, he would have taken 30 minutes more. The distance (in km) is?

A. 30 B. 36 C. 30 D. 42
Ans. C

2. Robert is travelling on his cycle and has calculated to reach point A at 3 P.M. if he travels at 12 kmph, he
will reach there at 1 P.M. if he travels at 15 kmph. At what speed must he travel to reach A at 2 P.M.?
A. 8 kmph B. 11 kmph C. 13 1/3 kmph D. 14 kmph
Ans. C

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 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
3. In covering a distance of 60 km, Abhay takes 4 hours more than Sameer. If Abhay doubles his speed, then
he would take 2 hour less than Sameer. Abhay's speed is:
A. 7.5 kmph B. 6 kmph C. 6.25 kmph D. 7.5 kmph
Ans. A

4.  A hare sees 100 meters away a dog from her and scuds off in the opposite direction at the speed of 16
kmph. A minute later the dog sees her and chases her at a speed of 20 kmph. How soon will the dog overtake
her?
A. 240 secs B. 360 secs C. 270 secs D. 180 secs
Ans. C

5. The speed of a car increases by 2 kms after every one hour. If the distance travelling in the first one hour
was 30 kms. what was the total distance travelled in 6 hours?
A. 456 kms         B. 482 kms C. 210 kms         D. 556 kms
Ans. C
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 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
6. A farmer travelled a distance of 72 km in 8 hours. He travelled partly on foot @ 8 km/hr and partly on
bicycle @ 12 km/hr. The distance travelled on foot is:
A. 41 km B. 50 km C. 48 km D. 47 km
Ans. C

7. A man travelling from A to B at 6 kmph takes half an hour rest at B and returns to A at 8 kmph. Total
time taken is 3 hrs. 25 min. Find the distance from A to B.
A. 6.2 km B. 7 km C. 10 km D. 6 km
Ans. C

8. A dog at a point “A” goes in pursuit of a fox 50 m away. The dog makes 2 m long leaps and the fox
makes 1 m long leaps. If the dog makes two leaps to the fox’s three. At what distance from “A” will the
dog catch up with the fox?
A. 190 m B. 160 m C. 200 m D. 210 m
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Ans. C
 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
9. A train traveling 50 km from A meets with an accident, and proceeds at 4/5th of the former speed and
reaches B, 55 min late. Had the accident happened 16 km further on it would have arrived 8 min sooner.
Find the original speed and distance of train ?
A. 30, 115 B. 20, 114 C.30, 114 D. none of these
Ans. C

10. Two train starts from stations A and B and travel towards each other at speed of 70 km/ph and 80
km/ph respectively. At the time of their meeting, the second train has traveled 150 km more than the first.
The distance between A and B is?
A. 2200 km B. 2250 km C. 1320 km D. 1440 km
Ans. B

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 APPLICATIONS
• Travel time for a journey or trip can be calculated by its distance and
vehicle’s speed using the topic’s concept.
• Arrival and departure time of trains are calculated by the concept of
Time, Speed and Distance.
• To calculate the average given by a vehicle, concept of average speed
can be applied .
• Concept of relative speed is used to overtake vehicles.

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 REFERENCES
Reference Books:
By Fast track Objective
ARIHANT PUBLICATIONS

Reference websites:
https://www.javatpoint.com/aptitude/speed-time-and-distance-1
https://affairscloud.com/quant-tricks-for-time-speed-distance-trains/
https://www.careerride.com/time-and-distance-aptitude-test.aspx
https://
www.sawaal.com/aptitude-reasoning/quantitative-aptitude-arithmetic-ability/time-and-distance-questions-and-answers.html

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THANK YOU

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