What Is Jerry's Average Speed on His Daily Commute?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating Jerry's average speed during his daily commute, which involves driving 200 miles to work at different speeds for each leg of the trip. The subject area includes concepts of average speed and distance-time relationships.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the average speed calculation using different methods and question the implications of Jerry's long commute. Some express confusion about the average speed formula and the arithmetic mean.

Discussion Status

There are multiple interpretations of the average speed calculation being discussed, with some participants sharing their attempts and reasoning. Guidance on using the correct formula has been mentioned, but no consensus has been reached on the final answer.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the significant time Jerry spends commuting, raising questions about the practicality of his job location. The problem setup involves specific speeds and distances that are critical to the discussion.

nando94
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Jerry drives 200 miles to work everyday from his house. While going there he drives at 50 mph. While coming back he drives at 25 mph. What was his average speed for the entire trip?


This question stumped me for 10 min.
 
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Out of curiousity, what did you get for the average speed?
 
nando94 said:
Jerry drives 200 miles to work everyday from his house. While going there he drives at 50 mph. While coming back he drives at 25 mph. What was his average speed for the entire trip?


This question stumped me for 10 min.

Yahhh, this question stumps me too since Jerry is driving 4 hours to get to work. Why is Jerry doing a job so far away? Then, 8 hours to drive back home. Jerry spends far too much time driving back and forth to this job. Jerry should find a job closer to home or relocate.
 
Mark44 said:
Out of curiousity, what did you get for the average speed?

I got 400/12 or 33.333

[2*Speed1*Speed2] / [speed1 + Speed2]

Thats the formula. Another way to do it is 50 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 25 + 25 + 25 + 25 + 25 + 25 + 25/12 or 400/12

At first I did 50+25/2 = 37.5 but that's the wrong answer since its asking the average for the entire trip. Thats when I realized that I had to add the entire distance traveled and divide it by the number in the set which is the arithmetic mean.
 
symbolipoint said:
Yahhh, this question stumps me too since Jerry is driving 4 hours to get to work. Why is Jerry doing a job so far away? Then, 8 hours to drive back home. Jerry spends far too much time driving back and forth to this job. Jerry should find a job closer to home or relocate.

haha yeah that's true.
 
nando94 said:
Jerry drives 200 miles to work everyday from his house. While going there he drives at 50 mph. While coming back he drives at 25 mph. What was his average speed for the entire trip?


This question stumped me for 10 min.

symbolipoint said:
Yahhh, this question stumps me too since Jerry is driving 4 hours to get to work. Why is Jerry doing a job so far away? Then, 8 hours to drive back home. Jerry spends far too much time driving back and forth to this job. Jerry should find a job closer to home or relocate.
I love it! You show how to get the answer while appearing to mock the question! Jerry drives a total of 400 miles in 12 hours.
 

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