A cyclist rode for 3.5 hours and completed a distance of 60.9 miles. If she kept the same average speed for each hour, how far did she ride in 1 hour? Part A Estimate the quotient. Include an equation to show your work. Explain your thinking.

Question

make it 5th grade level and short

Answer 1

To find out how far the cyclist rode in 1 hour, we need to divide the total distance by the time spent riding.

Equation:

Distance = 60.9 miles
Time = 3.5 hours
Average Speed = Distance ÷ Time

So, we calculate:

Average Speed = 60.9 miles ÷ 3.5 hours

Estimate the quotient:

First, let's estimate the numbers. We can round 60.9 to 61 and 3.5 to 4.

Now, we can divide:

61 ÷ 4 = 15.25

This means she rode about 15.25 miles in 1 hour.

Explanation:

I rounded the numbers to make it easier to divide. Then I figured out that the estimated average speed is about 15.25 miles per hour. This tells me how far the cyclist would go if she kept riding at the same speed for just 1 hour.