Distance, Rate, Time Laboratory

Pre-Algebra · Axiom Academy

LESSON Distance, Rate, and Time One formula, , ties together how fast you go, how long you go, and how far you get — and it rearranges to find any one of the three. 1. Distance Is Rate Times Time Send a car down the road at a steady 30 mph for 2 hours . Every hour it covers another 30 miles, so the distance grows steadily as the clock runs. Watch the traveled bar fill in: distance is just the rate multiplied by the time elapsed. 30 mph for 2 hours covers 60 miles 2. Rearrange to Find the Missing Piece Most real problems hand you two of the three quantities and ask for the third. Because is just multiplication, you "undo" it with division to free whichever quantity is hidden. Cover the unknown and the formula tells you exactly what to do. Multiply: . A 50 mph drive for 3 h covers miles. Divide by the rate: . 150 miles at 50 mph takes hours. Divide by the time: . 150 miles in 3 hours is mph. Miles with hours give mph; keep distance and time in matching units or the answer is meaningless. You drove 210 miles and the trip took 3.5 hours. How fast were you going? Free the rate: mph. Same single formula, just divided instead of multiplied. City A and City B are 120 miles apart. Car 1 leaves A at 40 mph ; Car 2 leaves B at 60 mph , heading toward each other. Because both eat into the gap at once, the distance between them shrinks at the combined rate. Watch the gap close, then read off the meeting point.

This is the written version of the interactive lesson above. See the full Pre-Algebra course.