Speed is the rate at which something is moving. It is measured as the distance travelled per unit of time.

Converting between metric speed measures

Maths

In this unit, pupils will be exploring the multiplicative relationship between different compound measures. Ratio will be one of the ways in which this is explored and the skills from the prior unit will aid understanding. There are also links to the volume units as volume is required for the density formula.

Compound measures

Which of the following are metric measures of speed?

A car is travelling at an average speed of 72 km/h. How many kilometres will be travelled in 1 minute?

A car travels 1.2 km in 1 minute. How far will it travel in 1 second?

Calculate the speed in km/h for the first part of the journey shown by this graph. 

A peregrine falcon dives at a speed of 108 m/s. Convert this speed into km/h.

Pressure is the perpendicular {{ }} applied to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed.

A box is placed on a table and the area of the base of the box is 2.5 $$m^2$$.  The force exerted by the box on the table is 45 N.  The pressure exerted by the box on the table is {{ }} $$N/m^2$$.

This box has a mass of 134.4 N.  Calculate the pressure it exerts on the ground. 

The pressure exerted by a cube with side lengths of 10 cm on a table is 13.5 $$N/cm^2$$.  Find the force exerted by the cube on the table. 

This box exerts a pressure of 65 $$N/m^2$$ and a force of 187.2 $$N$$ on the ground.  How wide is the box?  

Starter Quiz