Question

On may 26, 1934, a streamlined, stainless steel diesel train called the zephyr set the world’s nonstop long-distance speed record for trains. its run from denver to chicago took 13 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds, and was witnessed by more than a million people along the route. the total distance traveled was 1633.8 km. what was its average speed in km/h and m/s?

Answer 1

First we can calculate the average speed v in km/h by the equation v=s/t where s is the distance traveled and t is the time:

First we turn time into seconds and divide by 3600 to get time t in hours is:

t=13*3600 s + 4*60 s + 58 s= 47098 s  and that is:

t=47098s/3600s=13.08278 hours

So v=1633.8/13.08278=124.88 km/h

To get speed in m/s we simply turn kilometers into meters and hours into seconds:

s=1633.8 km *1000 = 1633800 m 

t=13*3600s + 4*60 s + 58 s=46800 s + 240 s + 58 s=47098 s

v=s/t=1633800/47098=34.67 m/s

So average speed in km/h is v=124.88 km/h and in m/s is v= 34.67 m/s.