Physics · real student question

An object moves in a straight line with uniform motion and covers 180 km in 6 hours. What is its speed? Choose from 900 m/s, 30 km/h, 900 km/h, 30 m/s.

Question

An object moves in a straight line with uniform motion and covers 180 km180\text{ km} in 6 h6\text{ h}. What is its speed?

A. 900 m/s900\text{ m/s} B. 30 km/h30\text{ km/h} C. 900 km/h900\text{ km/h} D. 30 m/s30\text{ m/s}

Step-by-step solution

  1. Identify the motion type. "Uniform motion" means the speed never changes, so the single formula v=stv=\dfrac{s}{t} applies to the whole trip — no averaging over segments is needed.

  2. Match the units before dividing. The distance is already in kilometres and the time in hours, so the quotient will come out directly in km/h\text{km/h} with no conversion inside the division.

  3. Divide distance by time. v=st=180 km6 h=30 km/hv=\frac{s}{t}=\frac{180\text{ km}}{6\text{ h}}=30\text{ km/h}

  4. Convert to SI to test the distractors. 30 km/h=30×10003600 m/s8.33 m/s30\text{ km/h}=\dfrac{30\times 1000}{3600}\text{ m/s}\approx 8.33\text{ m/s}. So option D (30 m/s30\text{ m/s}) is the same number attached to the wrong unit, and options A and C are off by a factor of 30 and 30 respectively.

  5. State the answer. Only option B survives: the speed is 30 km/h30\text{ km/h}.

Answer

v=1806=30 km/h8.33 m/sv=\frac{180}{6}=30\ \text{km/h}\approx 8.33\ \text{m/s}

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