Quantitative Aptitude

Time, Speed and Distance

2,165 Questions
All Core formulas and unit conversion 441 Boats and streams effective speed 396 Relative speed, meetings, and overtaking 375 Average speed 362 Early and late arrival 321 Proportional relationships 202 Stoppage time per hour 35 Train and stationary or moving object crossing 17 Races and dead heats 16

Time, Speed and Distance Questions

Multiple choice

Two trains start from stations A and B respectively, 50 km apart, at the same time and same speed. As the trains start, a bird flies from one train towards the other and on reaching the second train, it flies back to the first train. It repeats this process till both the trains collide. If the speed of both the trains is 25 km/hr and that of the bird is 100 km/hr, then how much did the bird travel till the time of collision? (Also consider that both the trains are moving on the same track.)

  1. 98.75 km

  2. 100 km

  3. 95.5 km

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The trains are 50 km apart and moving towards each other at 25 km/hr each. The relative speed is 50 km/hr, so they collide in 50/50 = 1 hour. The bird flies at 100 km/hr for that entire hour, covering 100 km.

Multiple choice

A thief is 400m ahead of a policeman. The thief started running and the policeman started chasing simultaneously. Assuming the speed of thief be 10km/h & policeman be 15 km/h, calculate the distance (in metres) covered by thief before the policeman caught the thief.

  1. 750 m

  2. 800 m

  3. 850 m

  4. 900 m

  5. Na
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Relative speed = 15 - 10 = 5 km/h = 5 * (5/18) m/s = 25/18 m/s. Time to catch = distance / relative speed = 400 / (25/18) = 400 * 18 / 25 = 16 * 18 = 288 seconds. Distance covered by thief = speed * time = 10 * (5/18) * 288 = 10 * 5 * 16 = 800 m.

Multiple choice

Mr. Y travelled continuously for 4 hours at the speed of 35 km/hr and for 6 hours at the speed of 55 km/hr. At the end, he finds out that he has covered 3/5th of the total distance. At what average speed should he travel to cover the remaining distance in 5 hours?

  1. 87 km/hr

  2. 15.6 km/hr

  3. 156 km/hr

  4. 62.66 km/hr
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Distance 1 = 4 * 35 = 140. Distance 2 = 6 * 55 = 330. Total distance covered = 470. This is 3/5 of total, so total = 470 * 5/3 = 783.33. Remaining distance = 783.33 - 470 = 313.33. Speed = 313.33 / 5 = 62.66 km/hr.

Multiple choice

A person has to cover a distance of 60 km in 5 hr. If he covers 1/4th of the journey in 3/5th of the time, what should be his speed to cover the remaining distance in the time left?

  1. 19.5 km/hr

  2. 20 km/hr

  3. 22.5 km/hr

  4. 37.5 km/hr
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Total distance = 60 km, total time = 5 hr. 1/4th distance = 15 km. Time taken = 3/5 * 5 = 3 hr. Remaining distance = 45 km. Remaining time = 2 hr. Required speed = 45 / 2 = 22.5 km/hr.

Multiple choice

A person started from point 'O' and travelled 10 km towards east. Then, he turned left and travelled another 8 km. After that, he turned left again and travelled 4 km. He covered the whole journey in 2 hours. What was the average velocity of the person for the whole journey?

  1. 10 km/hr

  2. 6.5 km/hr

  3. 5 km/hr

  4. 3.25 km/hr
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Average velocity is total displacement divided by total time. The person travels 10 km East, 8 km North (left), then 4 km West (left). The final position relative to O is (10-4, 8) = (6, 8). Displacement = sqrt(6^2 + 8^2) = 10 km. Velocity = 10 km / 2 hr = 5 km/hr.

Multiple choice

A train moves from station A to station B with uniform speed. Suppose the train takes 4 hours less if its speed is increased by 20 km/hr and takes 6 hours more if it speed is decreased by 20 km/hr to reach the required destination. Find the distance between stations A and B.

  1. 10,000 km

  2. 2600 km

  3. 2400 km

  4. 4400 km

  5. 4600 km
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Let distance be D and speed be S. D/S - D/(S+20) = 4 and D/(S-20) - D/S = 6. Solving these equations: D = 2400 km and S = 100 km/hr.

Multiple choice

Ana and Deepak are running towards each other at the speeds of 6 km/hr and 8 km/hr, respectively. Initially, the distance between the two is 35 km. If they start running at 6:00 am, then at what time will they meet each other?

  1. 08:30 am

  2. 09:30 am

  3. 10:30 am

  4. 11:30 am

  5. 12:30 pm
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Relative speed = 6 + 8 = 14 km/hr. Distance = 35 km. Time = Distance / Relative speed = 35 / 14 = 2.5 hours. 6:00 am + 2.5 hours = 8:30 am.

Multiple choice

A river is flowing at a steady speed of 3 km/hr. P starts swimming from one bank to the other bank of the river and comes back to the initial position. Find the distance travelled by P in the whole journey, if his speed in still water is 9 km/hr and he takes 2 hr to complete the whole journey.

  1. 16 km

  2. 24 km

  3. 12 km

  4. 36 km

  5. 18 km
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Speed downstream = 9 + 3 = 12 km/hr. Speed upstream = 9 - 3 = 6 km/hr. Let distance be d. d/12 + d/6 = 2. (d + 2d)/12 = 2, 3d = 24, d = 8 km. Total distance = 2d = 16 km.