Time, speed and distance

The relation between time, speed and distance is given by the formula:

Distance = Time x Speed

The units of time, speed and distance must be consistent. For instance, if time is in hours and speed is in
km per hour, time x speed gives distance in km. If time is in seconds and speed is in meters per second,
time x speed gives distance in meters. In problems on trains it is useful to remember the following
conversion factors:

1 km per hour = 5/18 meters per second

1 meter per second = 18 / 5 km per hour

If the speed over a journey is not uniform, the average speed over the journey can be calculated by
dividing the total distance travelled by the total time taken. This is not the same as the simple average
of the different speeds, unless the time taken at each speed is the same.

In cases where the distance is fixed, time x speed is a constant value, which means that time and sped
are inversely related. As speed increases, it takes less time and vice versa.

In cases where time is fixed, distance varies directly as speed, and in cases where speed is fixed,
distance varies directly as time.

Boats and streams

If the speed of a boat in still water is represented by the variable b and the speed of the water is
represented by variable w, the speed of the boat downstream (meaning boat moving in the direction of
the water movement) is b + w and the speed upstream (meaning boat moving against the direction of
the water movement) is b – w.

Problems of this type are, boats travelling downstream or upstream, a swimmer swimming downstream
or upstream, a cyclist cycling in the direction of the wind or against the wind, etc.

Distances in problems on trains

Case Distance travelled by the train

A train passes a lamppost or a tree or a person by
the side of the railway track
A train passes a platform or a bridge or a tunnel
A train crosses another train
The length of the train
The length of the train plus the length of the
platform / bridge / tunnel
The distance travelled by both the trains together
is the sum of the lengths of the two train.
Relative speed

The concept of relative speed comes into play when 2 objects are moving, either in the same direction
or in the opposite direction. Relative speed is the speed of one object relative to the other object.

If the 2 objects are moving in the same direction with the faster object moving at speed s1 and the
slower object at speed s2, the relative speed is s1 – s2. This is the speed at which the distance between
the two moving objects is closed.

If the 2 objects are moving in the opposite direction at speeds s1 and speed s2, the relative speed is s1 +
s2. This is the speed at which the distance between the two moving objects is closed.

Races

The statement “In a 200 meter race, A beats B by 10 meters” means that when A completes the race B is
10 meters behind A. In the time A runs 200 meters, B runs 190 meters, which means that the ratio of
speed of A to speed of B is 200 : 190 = 20 : 19. The actual speed of A or B cannot be determined without
some additional data.

The statement “A beats B by 5 seconds” means that B takes 5 seconds more than A to finish the race. If
we combine this statement with “In a 200 meter race, A beats B by 10 meters”, it follows that B takes 5
seconds to run the last 10 meters, and the speed of B is 2 meters per second. Using the speed ratio the
speed of A is 10 / 9 times the speed of B, the speed of A is 2 x 10/9 = 20 / 9 meters per second.

“A gives B a start of 10 meters” means that B starts the race 10 meters ahead of the starting point of the
race. “A gives B a start of 2 seconds” means that B starts the race 2 seconds earlier than A.

Circular races

These are races on a circular track. There can be 2 or more runners. They may run in the same direction,
or in opposite directions. The concept of relative speed is applicable. The length of the circular track is
its circumference. It is useful to remember the following formulas in regard to races on circular tracks of
length l units. The variables a, b and c represent speeds of runners A, B and C respectively.

Number of runners Direction Time taken to meet Time taken to meet at

anywhere on the track the starting point
Two persons A and B Same direction l / (a – b) LCM of (l/a, l/b)
Two persons A and B Opposite direction l / (a + b) LCM of (l/a, l/b)
Three persons A, B and C Same direction LCM of any two of (l / (a LCM of (l/a, l/b, l/c)
– b), l / (b – c), l / (a –
c))
Three persons A, B and C A and B in the same LCM of any two of (l / (a LCM of (l/a, l/b, l/c)
direction and C in the – b), l / (b + c), l / (a –
opposite direction c))
Exercises

1. A train crosses a platform 500 meters long in 27 seconds and an electric pole in 9 seconds.
What is the length of the train in meters?
(1) 200 (2) 250 (3) 300 (4) 500
2. A man goes to a city at 60 kmph and returns at 40 kmph. If he takes 10 hours in all, what is
the total distance in km he travels?
(1) 544 (2) 560 (3) 576 (4) 480
3. In a journey, one-third of the distance is covered at 30 kmph and the remaining distance at
40 kmph. What is the average speed in kmph for the entire journey?
(1) 35 (2) 37.5 (3) 36 (4) 33.5

4. A man can row downstream at 12 kmph and upstream at 8 kmph. What is the ratio of the
speed of the current to the speed of the man in still water?
(1) 1 : 5 (2) 5 : 4 (3) 25 : 16 (4) 16 : 25

5. A person can row 18 km downstream and 27 km upstream in 3 hours and 27 km downstream

and 18 km upstream in 2 hours 42 minutes. What is the time taken in hours to row 25 km
upstream?

(1) 1 7/10 (2) 1 1/2 (3) 2 (4) 2 3/10

6. In a kilometer race, A can give B a start of 40 m and B can give C sa start of 25 m. In the same
race how many meters start can A give C?

(1) 46 (2) 56 (3) 66 (4) 64

7. A train covers a certain distance in one hour 45 minutes and another train covers twice the
distance in 2 hours 45 minutes. What is the ratio of their speeds?
(1) 7 : 11 (2) 11 : 14 (3) 1 : 2 (4) 1 : 7
8. A bus travels without any stoppages at 60 kmph, while with stoppages its average speed
reduces to 55 kmph. How many minutes does the bus stop on an average per hour?
(1) 20 (2) 25 (3) 11 (4) none of these
9. A man can row ½ km against the stream in 12 minutes and return in 6 minutes. What is the
speed of the stream?
(1) 1.25 (2) 1.5 (3) 2.5 (4) 3
10. A boat travels upstream from point X to point Y and downstream from Y to X in 6 hours. If
the speed of the boat in still water is 4 kmph and the speed of the current is 2 kmph, what is
the distance in km between X and Y?
(1) 9 (2) 8 (3) 4 (4) 12
11. In a 1 km race, A beats B by 100 m and B beats C by 200 m. Bt how many meters can A beat
C in a 1 km race?
(1) 100 (2) 83 1/3 (3) 68 (4) 280

12. A and B run a 15 km race on a circular track. Their speeds are 4.5 and 6 kmph respectively.
The length of the trak is 1.5 km. What is the time taken by them to meet anywhere on the
track for the first time?
(1) 1 hour (2) 2 hours (3) 3 hours (4) 1 ½ hour
13. Two persons X and Y start simultaneously from A to B, a distance of 12 km, at 2 ½ kmph and
3 ½ kmph respectivel. Y reaches B, returns immediately and meets X at C. What is the
distance between A and C in km?
(1) 8 (2) 10 (3) 12 (4) 14

14. A person travels to his office at a speed which is 45% more than his usual speed. He reaches
his office 18 minutes early. What is the time in minutes he takes at his usual speed?
(1) 29 (2) 58 (3) 40 (4) 80
15. A student reaches her school 6 minutes late if she travels at 5 kmph and 6 minutes early if
she travels at 6 kmph. What is the distance between the house and the school?
(1) 10 (2) 12 (3) 6 (4) 8

16. A policeman chases a thief at 27 kmph and catches the thief after 1 minute 36 seconds. If
the initial distance was 240 meters, what was the sped of the thief?
(1) 12 kmph (2) 9 kmph (3) 18 kmph (4) 21 kmph

17.A monkey climbs a greased pole 36 m high. It climbs 3 m in the first minute and slips 1 m in
the second minute. This process continues till it reaches the top. In how many minutes does the
monkey reach the top?

(1) 36 (2) 33 (3) 33 5/6 (4) 34 2/3

18. A train passes a man standing on a platform in 4 seconds. Another train of the same length
moving in the opposite direction passes the man in 5 seconds. What is the time taken by the
two trains to cross each other?

(1) 100/9 (2) 40/9 (3) 49/9 (4) 9/40

 19. The speeds of two persons are in the ratio 3 : 2. If the first person takes 10 minutes less to
cover a distance, how many minutes would the second person take to cover the same distance?

(1) 20 (2) 30 (3) 10 (4) 50

20. Buses take 10 hours to cover distance of 400 km between A and B. One bus leaves at 7 am
from A towards B. Another bus leaves B towards A at 8:30 am. As soon as the bus from A leaves
a bird starts flying from A to B. The bird covers 276 km to reach the bus from B. As soon as it
reaches the bus, the bird flies back towards the bus from A. The bird flies back and for the
between the 2 buses till the buses meet each other. What is the total distance in km travelled by
the bird?

(1) 300 (2) 330 (3) 345 (4) 360

Answers to exercises

1. (2) 250
2. (4) 480
3. (3) 36
4. (1) 1 : 5
5. (3) 2
6. (4) 64
7. (2) 11 : 14
8. (4) none of these
9. (1) 1.25
10. (1) 9
11. (4) 280
12. (1) 1 hour
13. (2) 10
14. (2) 58
15. (3) 6 km
16. (3) 18 kmph
17. (4) 34 2/3
18. (2) 40/9
19. (2) 30
20. (3) 345