Time, Distance and Speed

Learning Objectives
► Introduction
► Time
► Distan~e and Speed
► Relation Between Time, Distance and Speed

Introduction
Time, distance and speed are the characteristics of moving objects. Speed of a moving
object is determined by the time taken to travel a distance. Earlier, .time of a day was
determined by the position of the Sun, seen from the Earth in the sky. Later on, a time
measur~ng device known as Sundial and water dock were used for the measurement
of time. The standard unit of .time is second ·and other unit ·o f time is its derived unit.
Distance is the shortest length between two points, two places, etc. The standard unit
of distance is metre and others are its derived unit. The speed of a running object is
determined by the division of distance by time. The unit of speed is meter per second
and denoted by ml s. We have studied about the time, distance and speed in previous
classes. In this chapter, we will learn in detail about the time, distance and speed.

Time
The duration of happening an event is measured in time and its SI unit is second. Hour,
minutes and other units are derived unit of time. Sundial, Sand clock and Water clock
are the time measuring devices which were used in ancient days.
 OLYMPIAD EXCELLENCE GUIDE

Time Measuring Devices of Ancient Time

There were various types of time measuring devices in ancient world. The modern .
. . . . . . . tune
measuring devices are based on the pnnc1ple of ancient time measurmg devices.
Look at the following pictures ofancient time measuring devices:

. ~ Vertical blade

\ i dr Ic _ Shadow of vertical blad;'"....

Sun ia

Sand clock
Water dock
Sundial was one of the most popular devices; used in ancient period. 1:'he name of sundial
itself indicates that it is associated with the sun rays. Shadow of vertical blade on the
division of the sundial shows the time of a particular period. Shadow of vertical bar is
formed according to the position of the Sun in the sky. Sand clock cons.ists of two glass
bulbs which is joined by a narrow pipe. Upper bulb contains sand which flows downward
till it gets empty.

Another ancient time measuring device was water dock. Function of water clock wa~
same as that of sand cl~ck, only water was used instead of sand. Water in the upp~r
part of the clock flow downward and an empty upper part or a filled lower part of the
clock was measured as one hour.
Comparison of Different Units of Time
T ·me is measured in second but the other unit of time is derived .t d'
1 . . uni as 1scussed above.
There is some relation between the units of time with its standard . D
.. .
• 1; 6 oth of one hour and I second 1s I/ 60th of
unit. r or example, 1
minute 1s .
1 minute.
~ "owinu
Look at th e ion, o
table ofunits and comparison oftJme:

1oyears 12 months 30 days 24 hours

1oooyears 1oovears 1 hour 1 minute
1 microsecond
1 nanosecond
1 year 1 month 1 day
1 decade 60 minute
1mlllennlum 1 centurv 60seconds 1/lOOoooo
seconds 1/ lQOoooooooooo
seconds

CLASS-6
r cHAPTERII TIME, DISTANCE AND SPEED

• ·
m e · · me as ur ing
1. Give th e na m e .of th.e asur1 ng ins tru ment which was used. for
. an cie nt tim e.
. e 1n
th e tim
(B) Cry~tal watch
(A) Od om ete r
(D) All of these
(C) Sundial .
(E) None of these r

~~~
nd ial wa s use d for the me asu rement of time in ancient time...
Ex pl an at ion : Su ect.
ere fo re, op tio n (C) is co rre ct and res t of .the options is incorr
Th
t of
th e fo llo wi ng is th e· sta nd ard unit for th~ measuremen
2. · W hi ch on e of ·
time?
(A) Second . (B) Minute
(C) Ho ur (D) All of these
(E) No ne of the se ·
. An sw er (A)
it for the me asu rem en t of tim e is second. Therefore,
Ex pl an at ion : St an da rd un
n (A) is co rre ct an d re st of the options is incorrec t.
op tio
/

Distance an d Sp ee d
o po int s or tw o tow ns is kn ow n as the distance between _
The sh or tes t len gt h be tw ee n tw e etc. Lo ng distance is measured in kilom
etre
ce is me tre , kil om etr
them. Th e un it of dis tan
dis tan ce is me as ur ed in me tre , ce nti me tre and millimetre.
and sh or t . .

Look at th e fo llo wi ng ta bl e:
I 00 0 me tres = I kilome tre
I 00 me tres = I hec tom etr e
Io me tre s = I decametre
metre
I I.I o me tre = I decim etre
· 1/ I oo me tre = I cen tim etr
e

1/ 100 0 me tre = I miUimetr

e·

v~Ile d in pe r un
· it tim e. If a ca r travels at a distance of
· t an ce tra
· defi1ned as t h e d 1s
Speed 1s .
distance =40 = hou r, which
d f th _ Travelled 1 40 km in one
. spee O e car - Time taken
40 km m one ho ur the n the
 OLYMPIAD EXC
ELLENCE GUIDE
is w ri tt e n as 4 0 k
. m /h o u r. Speed ca
second, k il o m e tr n also be denoted
.
e p e r se c o n d , k il . by some o t h
o m e tr e p e r m in u te et er~
A speed m e a su ri c. Speed is al unit hke rn
n g in st ru m e n t w h ic h so termed etre Pei
is w id e ly u se d in
L o o k a t th e fo ll o vehicles is called
w in g p ic tu r e o fs as VelOcit)
p e e d o m e te r a n d spe_
edornet
o d o m e te r:
er.

,:c
J
b·. · I
•,
• .I
/.. .l
ao·.
,,IC•J
- no
I
1,1r,, ,
i\
I

Speedometre
od om et re
S p e e d o m e te r is
a m e a su ri n g dev
O d o m e te r is also ice which sh o w s
a m e a su ri n g devic th e ru n•n in g spee
e b u t it sh ows th e d is ta n c e d o f the vehicle.
A se n so r o n th e travelled by the ve
wheel o f th e veh hicle.
se n se d si g n a l to icle senses th e ro
th e speedometer. ta ti o n o f th e w h
a n a lo g p a n e l sho Speedometer rece e e l and it sends the
w th e travelled d ives th e si g n a l an
istance as p e r th e d ·its digital or
U n if o r m a n d N ti m e divisions o
f th e speedometer
o n u n if o r m S p e .
. W h e n a c a r ru n e d
s o n a st ra ig h t pat
sp e e d . If th e sp h with c o n st a n t sp
eed o f . th e car var eed th e n th e c a r
is called in n o n u ies with respect to is called in uniform
niform speed. th e v a ri a ti o n in
. time then the car
L o o k a t th e fo .
ll o w in g ti m e d
is ta n c e g ra p h fo
r u n if o rm s p e
\ ed:
6
\
5

i 4

11 :
i
C 1

4 s
T I- 6
•
m e (In m in ut e)

CL~ss-6
84
c~TE Rll TIME, DISTANCE AND SPEED
.:::---- .

·
raph above ' travelled dista nee m · · · · · ·
Int he g · 1 mmute 1s 1 km, m 2 mmutes, travelled distance
is 2 kJD. Therefo re, speed does not change or remains constan t at 1 km per minute ( I
krn/m) which is called uniform speed and graph of uniform speed is always a straight line.
u,ok at the followi ng time distance graph for non uniform speed:

-
!
ti
5

u
,_b
3 ,,~
~
· ~~
2 ~
C
~o~
!
Q 1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Time (In minute)

In the time and distance graph above, distance travelled in I minute and distance travelled
in next I minute are not equal. Therefore, this is calle~ non uniform speed.

L Consider the following statements:

Statement I: A car whose speed is constan t is called·in uniform speed.
Statement 2: A car whose speed is not constant is called in uniform speed.
Which oile of the following is correct about the above statements?·
(A) ·statem ent i is true and 2.is false
(B) Stateme nt I is false and 2 is true
(C) Both stateme nts are false
(D) Both stateme nts are true
(E) None of these
Answer (A)
Explanation: A car whose speed is constan t is ·~alle~ ~n uniform speed.
Therefo re, option (A) is corr~ct and rest of the opt10ns 1s mcorrect. .

CLASS-6 ·■
 OLYMPIAD EXCELLENCE GU
IDE
.
W ha t ty pe o·f ~
2. sp eed does a curved on distance time graph line repres
·
Um1orm spee d
·c: ent?
(A) (B) N on un ifo rm sp ee d
(C) Rectilinear (D ) All of th es e
(E) No ne of th es e
I I
I

I r Answer (B)
Explanation: A cu rv e line
I I speed: Therefore, op tio n (B
o~ a di sta nc e- tim e gr ap
h re pr es en ts non uniform
) is co rre ct an d re st of th
e op tio ns is incorrect.
Relation Between Time, D
is ta nc e an d S p ee d
,l A car travels a distance of
1 30 0 km in 6 hours. Th
e di sta nc e tra ve lle d by th
ho ur = Total distance trave e car in one
lled by the car = ~00 =S0k
·· Total time taken by the car mph.
If the time taken by the ca 6
r to cover a distance is in
will decrease. Therefore, th cr ea se d th en th e speed of
e speed of the car is invers the car
by the car and directly prop el y pr op or tio na l to th e time
ortional to th e distance tra taken
ve lle d by th e car.
, If speed of a car is given
then the distance travelle~
.I :I formula of th e speed of th by th e ca r ca n be derived
by the
e car. .
, 1 Let's assume th at the spee
d of the car is 's', total dista
time taken by the car to tra nce tra ve lle d by th e ca r is
vel the distance of 'd' is 't'. 'd' and
According to the formula
of speed,
Di
Speed (s) = T' statncke (d)(t) d
. 1me a en or s = - or d = st or t = d
t . s
Units of Sp ee d
Th e standard unit of dista
nce is met.re and standard
un ito f time is seco qd . Ac
to th e formula of speed (s) d d metre cording
=- = t d = metre per .
t secon second or m /s
. .

CLASS-6
 flow much distance a car travels in 10 minutes if the speed of the car is 40
1,
kmph?
(A) 6.67 km (B) 7. 80 km
(C) 10.so km (D) 5.25 km
(E) None of these
Answer (A)
Explanation: The distance travelled by the car in Io minutes = 6.6 7 kilometres.
Therefore, option (A) is correct and rest of the options is incorrect.
Choose the correct option from the following:
distance ·
(A) Speed = . (B) Speed = · time
trme distance
(C) Spee1 = distance x time (D) All of these
(E) None of these ·
Answer (A)

Ci1 )MM,iiJIC/
1

❖ Graph of uniform speed is always a straight line.

❖ Sundial, sand clock and water clock were used for the measurement of time in
ancient time.
❖ Graph of non uniform speed is always a curved line.
❖ Standarq unit for the measurement of time is second and other unit of time is
its derived unit.

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CLASS-6 ■