Most Important Formulas

Speed, Distance and Time

1. If A travels with speed x km/h for t hours and with speed y km/h for T hours, then
𝒙𝒕+𝒚𝑻
his average speed is given by
𝒕+𝑻
Example:
A person walks at the rate of 10 km/h for 2 hours and at 4 km/h for 10 hours.
Find the average speed in km/h of the man.
a) 5 km/h
b) 4 km/h
c) 3 km/h
d) None of these
Solution:

𝑥𝑡 + 𝑦𝑇 10(2) + 4(10) 60
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = = = = 5 𝑘𝑚/ℎ
𝑡+𝑇 2 + 10 12
2. If a man/ vehicle covers two equal distances with the speed of x km/h and y km/h
respectively, then the average speed of the man/ vehicle for complete journey
𝟐𝒙𝒚
will be
𝒙+𝒚
Example:
A man covers half of his journey at 6 km/h and the remaining half at 4 km/h, his
average speed is?
a) 5 km/h
b) 4.8 km/h
c) 3.8 km/h
d) 2.8 km/h

Solution:

2𝑥𝑦 2(6)(4) 48
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = = = = 4.8 𝑘𝑚/ℎ
𝑥+𝑦 6+4 10
 𝒙
3. If a man changes his speed to of his usual speed and gets late by t min, then the
𝒚
𝒕𝒙
usual time taken by him
𝒚−𝒙
Example:
If a man travels with a speed of 5/7 times of his original speed and he reached
his office 20 min late to fixed time, then the time taken with his original speed
is?
a) 30 min
b) 35 min
c) 50 min
d) 40 min

Solution:

𝑡𝑥 20(5) 100
𝑈𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 = = = = 50 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑦−𝑥 7−5 2

4. When a man travels from A to B with a speed x km/h and reaches t hours later
after the fixed time and when he travels with a speed y km/hr from A to B, he
reaches his destination T hours before the fixed time, then distance between A
and B is
𝒙𝒚(𝒕+𝑻)
km
𝒚−𝒙
Example:
Walking at 4 km/h, Rajeev reaches his school 10 min late, if he walks at 5 km/h,
he will be 5 min early. The distance of Rajeev's school from house is?
a) 4 km
b) 5 km
c) 3 km
d) 6 km

Solution:

𝑥𝑦(𝑡 + 𝑇) 4(5)(10 + 5) 20 × 15
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = = = = 5𝑘𝑚
𝑦−𝑥 (5 − 4) × 60 60
5. A person travels from A to B with a speed x km/h and reaches t hours late. Later
he increases his speed by y km/h to cover the same distance and he still gets late
by T hours, then the distance between A and B is
𝒙
= (𝒕 − 𝑻)(𝒙 + 𝒚) .
𝒚
Example:
Mahesh is walking at a speed of 20 km/h reaches his school 30 min late. Next
time he increased his speed by 5 km/h but still he is late by 10 min. What is the
distance of the school from his home?
a) 25 km
b) 35 km
c) 40 km
d) None of these

Solution:
𝑥
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = (𝑡 − 𝑇)(𝑥 + 𝑦)
𝑦
20 1 10
= (30 − 10)(20 + 5) × = = 3.33 𝑘𝑚
5 60 3
6. Time taken by a train of length l meter moving at a speed of s m/s to cross
another train of length L moving at a speed of S m/s in same or opposite direction
𝒍+𝑳
is .
𝒔∓𝑺
Example:
Two trains, one is of 121 m in length at the speed of 40km/h and the other is of
99 m in length at the speed of 32 km/h are running in opposite directions. In
how much time will they be completely clear from each other from the moment
they meet?
a) 90 s
b) 11 s
c) 12 s
d) 99 s
Solution:
 𝑙 + 𝐿 121 + 99 18 220 × 18
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = = × = = 11𝑠
𝑠+𝑆 40 + 32 5 72 × 5
7. If two trains start at the same time from points A and B towards each other and
after crossing each other, they take t and T time in reaching points B and A
𝒔 𝑻
respectively, then ratio of their speed is = √ .
𝑺 𝒕
Example:
Two trains, one from Mumbai to Hyderabad and other from Hyderabad to
Mumbai start simultaneously. After they meet, the trains reach their
destinations after 9 h and 16 h, respectively. What is the ratio of their speeds?
a) 3:4
b) 4:5
c) 4:3
d) 3:5

Solution:

𝑠 𝑇 16 4
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = = √ = √ = = 4: 3
𝑆 𝑡 9 3

8. Let the speed of boat in downstream be u km/h and speed of boat in upstream be
v km/h, then (most frequently used shortcut formula for problems based on Boats
and Stream are);
𝟏
Speed of boat in still water = (𝒖 + 𝒗) km/h
𝟐
𝟏
Speed of stream (current) = (𝒖 − 𝒗) km/h
𝟐
Example:
A man rows 32 km downstream and 14 km upstream, and he takes 6 hours to
cover each distance. What is the speed of the current?
a) 1.5 km/h
b) 2.5 km/h
c) 3 km/h
d) 4 km/h
Solution:
 32 16
𝑢= =
6 3
14 7
𝑣= =
6 3
1 1 16 7 3
Speed of stream (current) = (𝑢 − 𝑣) = ( − ) = = 1.5 km/h
2 2 3 3 2
9. Suppose A and B are two contestants in a race. If A beats B by x m and length of
the track is d m. Then the distance travelled by B when A finishes the race is equal
to d – x then,
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑨 𝒅
=
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑩 𝒅 − 𝒙
Example:
In a 200 m race, A can beat B by 50m, and B can beat C by 8 m. In the same race,
A can beat C by what distance?
a) 56 m
b) 100 m
c) 104 m
d) None of these

Solution:
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐴 𝑑 200 200
= = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐵 𝑑 − 𝑥 200 − 50 150
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐵 𝑑 200 200
= = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐶 𝑑 − 𝑥 200 − 8 192
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐴 200 200 200 200
= × = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐶 150 192 144 200 − 56

A can beat C by 56 m.