Going Round-Trip with the World’s Fastest Land Animal

According to the Travel Almanac, the world’s fastest land animal is the cheetah. It can travel
at up to 70 mph. Think of this scenario: A cheetah sitting under a tree sprints toward its prey
at 70 mph. It runs back to its initial spot by the tree at a modest 40 mph. The cheetah has
embarked on a round-trip. Going from point A to point B, the cheetah traveled at an average
rate of 70 mph. Returning to point A, the cheetah traveled at an average rate of 40 mph.
Can we say that this cheetah’s average rate was 55 mph?
That’s one of the things you’ll determine as you work to complete this task. Make a
conjecture. What do you think the answer will be?
Directions:
Complete each of the following tasks, reading the directions carefully as you go. Be sure to
show all work where indicated and to insert images of graphs when needed. Make sure that
all graphs or screenshots include appropriate information, such as titles and labeled axes. If
your word processing program has an equation editor, you can insert your equations here.
Otherwise, print this activity sheet and write your answers by hand.
You will be graded on the work you show, or your solution process, in addition to your
answers. Make sure to show all of your work and to answer each question as you complete
the task. Type all of your work into this document so you can submit it to your teacher for a
grade. You will be given partial credit based on the work you show and the completeness
and accuracy of your explanations.
Your teacher will give you further directions as to how to submit your work. You may be
asked to upload the document, e-mail it to your teacher, or hand in a hard copy.
Before you begin, recall the formula that relates distance, rate, and time.
The distance formula is given by d = rt, where:
d represents distance. Common units are miles or feet.
t represents time. Common units are hours or seconds.
r represents rate or velocity. Common units are miles per hour or feet per second.
You can calculate distance by finding the product of an average rate of an object traveling
and the duration of time for which it travels. Remember, units for distance and time must
agree with the units for rate.

Now let’s get started!

Step 1: Calculating distance at maximum speed
If the cheetah sprinted at maximum speed, how far would the cheetah have traveled?
a) Set up an equation to represent the distance the cheetah covered in terms of
t minutes running at maximum speed. Remember, units of distance and time must agree.
Use the conversion information from the warm-up to write a rate in miles per minute.
The distance equation is D = RT, where
D is distance
R is rate (speed)
T is time

If cheetah travels at max speed, 70 mph, we can say D = 70t

There are 60 minutes in 1 hours, so the distance in miles per minute is:

D = 1.167t miles per minute

b) Let t = 10 and solve for the distance the cheetah covered in 10 minutes.
Given t = 10 minutes, the distance covered using formula would be
D = RT
D = 1.167 * 10 = 11.67 miles

Step 2: Calculating distance using varied speeds

Suppose the cheetah sprinted at maximum speed for 8 minutes and then slowed to 40 mph
for the next 8 minutes.
a) How far would the cheetah have traveled in the first 8 minutes? Show how
you arrived at your answer.
The instructions don't say the max speed, but we can find the max speed is 70 mph (since
1.75*40 = 70).
Convert that to miles per minute
70 mph = 70/60 = (7/6) miles per minute
In 8 minutes, the cheetah travels about (7/6)*8 = 9.333 miles at max speed.
Answer: Approximately 9.333 miles

b) How far would the cheetah have traveled in the next 8 minutes? Show how
you arrived at your answer.
40 mph = (40/60) miles per minute
40 mph = (2/3) miles per minute
distance = rate*time
distance = (2/3)*8
distance = 5.333 miles approximately
Answer: Approximately 5.333 miles

c) How much farther did the cheetah travel in the first 8 minutes than in the
second 8 minutes?
Subtract the results from parts A and B
9.333 - 5.333 = 4
The decimal portions cancel out completely since both have the '3's go on forever.
Answer: 4 miles

d) The cheetah traveled 1.75 times faster for the first 8 minutes than it did for the
second 8 minutes. Was the distance traveled during the first 8 minutes 1.75 times greater
than the distance traveled during the second 8 minutes? Show the calculation to justify your
answer.
d1 = distance traveled the first 8 minutes
d1 = (rate)*(time)
d1 = (1.75r)*(8)
d1 = 14r
where r is the speed in miles per minute traveled during the next 8 minutes
d2 = distance traveled the second 8 minute period
d2 = (rate)*(time)
d2 = r*8
d2 = 8r
Now divide the distances d1 over d2
d1/d2 = (14r)/(8r)
d1/d2 = 14/8
d1/d2 = 1.75
Answer: Yes the distance traveled during the first 8 minutes is 1.75 times greater compared
to the distance traveled during the second 8 minutes.

e) If the cheetah made a round-trip and took half the amount of time on the
return trip as on the front end of the trip, what would be the relationship between the average
rates on each leg of the trip? Using a complete sentence, explain how you arrived at this
conclusion.
The first leg of the round trip is 8+8 = 16 minutes.
The second leg, or return journey, of the trip is 16/2 = 8 minutes.
The total distance is d1+d2 = 14r+8r = 22r where r is r = 2/3 calculated back in part B
This means the total distance traveled is 22r = 22*(2/3) = 44/3 miles.

Step 3: Calculating time

Assume that the cheetah travels an average of 40 mph to go from its resting place to a rock
near a river. On the return trip to its resting place, the cheetah travels an average of 70 mph.
If the cheetah traveled for 15 minutes, how many minutes did the return trip take to the
nearest minute and second?
a) Set up the table as follows. Label the rows “To the River” and “From the
River.” Label the columns “Distance,” “Rate,” and “Time (in Hours).” Let t represent the
unknown quantity in the problem. Fill in the table.
15 min = (15 min)*(1 hr/60min)
15 min = (15/60) hr
15 min = 1/4 hr
Since the cheetah traveled 15 minutes total, this means it traveled 1/4 of an hour total.
If it took t hours to go back home then it took 1/4 - t hours to get to the river. The values in
the time column must add up to 1/4 hour.
The speeds given to us are placed in the table as is.
Multiply those speeds with the time expressions to get the distance expressions.
For the first distance we get
d = r*t
d = 40*(1/4-t)
d = 40*(1/4)+40*(-t)
d = 10-40t
Representing the distance traveled going from home to the river.
The second distance equation is
d = r*t
d = 70*t
 b) From the table, set up an equation relating the distances.
The equation is 10-40t = 70t

c) Solve the problem. Write the answer in a complete sentence, stating it in

terms of minutes and seconds.
10-40t = 70t
10-40t+40t = 70t+40t .... adding 40t to both sides
10 = 110t
110t = 10
110t/110 = 10/110 .... dividing both sides by 110
t = 1/11 hours
t = 60/11 minutes .... multiply by 60 to convert from hrs to min
t = 3600/11 seconds ... multiply by 60 to convert from min to sec
So,
3600/11 sec = 327.2727 sec
3600/11 sec = (300 sec) + (27.2727 sec)
3600/11 sec = (300/60) min + (27.2727 sec)
3600/11 sec = 5 min + 27.2727 sec
3600/11 sec = 5 min, 27.2727 sec
Answer: Approximately 5 min, 27.2727 sec

Step 3: Calculating the average rate

Now it’s time to tackle the original question.
Going from point A to point B, the cheetah traveled at an average rate of 70 mph. Returning
to point A, the cheetah traveled at an average rate of 40 mph.
Can we say that this cheetah’s average rate was 55 mph?
a) The average rate for the trip is equal to the total distance traveled divided by
the total time traveled. The following equations represent the distance traveled on each leg
of the trip.
First leg of trip:
Second leg of trip:
Write an equation for the average rate for the trip. Remember, the cheetah runs from point A
to point B and back to point A.
Let D be the distance from A to B. The trip from A to B took = t1=D/70 hours.
The returning trip from B to A took = t2=D/40 hours.
The total time for the round trip is t1+t2 =D/70 +D/40 . The total distance for the round trip is
D + D = 2D. The average speed for the round trip is full distance/full time = 2d/t1+t2 =
2d/D/70+D/40 = 2/1/70+1/40 = 2*40*70/40*70 =50.909 mph.
 b)
c) The following equation represents the average rate for the trip. Is this
equation equivalent to the one you wrote above? Explain why or why not.
It's basically the same equation but rewritten/rearranged.

d) The following steps show how the equation for the average rate can be
transformed so that it is written in terms of only the rates for each leg of the trip. Write an
algebraic justification for each step. Think about the number operations and properties that
you know.
Step 1: Sum of fractions in the denominator making cross product: d / r1 + d / r2 Resulting: d
* r2 + d * r1 / (r1 * r2) Step 2: Multiply numerator and denominator by the following
expression: (r1 * r2) / (d * r2 + d * r1) Step 3: Take common factor in the denominator of the
expression in step 2. Resulting: (d * r2 + d * r1) = d * (r2 + r1)

e) Using the equation for average rate above, determine the cheetah’s average
rate for the entire trip.
a.The average rate for the trip is equal to the total distance traveled divided by the total time
traveled.
Average Rate = 70+ 40/2= 110/2 = 55mph
Yes the average rate of the cheetah is 55 mph
The following equations represent the distance traveled on each leg of the trip.
First leg of trip: td=r1 t1= 70*t
Second leg of trip: td=r2 t2= 40*t
Write an equation for the average rate for the trip. Remember, the cheetah runs from point A
to point B and back to point A.
Total distance = r1 t1+ r2 t2

Average rate = Total distance / total time

= r1 t1+ r2 t2/ t1+ t2
=70t+ 40t/ 2t
=110t/2t
= 55mph