Primary 6 · Mathematics · Rate & Speed
Rate & Speed questions for Primary 6 Maths
10 questions to work through online. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- Average speed over two legs
- Finding time
- Distance with mixed units
- Speed with mixed units
- Catching up
- Unit rate
- Combined rate
- Average speed there and back
- Rate of work
- Working backwards
Answers and explanations for all 10 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
A car travels 180 km in 2 hours, then 150 km in 3 hours. What is its average speed for the whole journey?
Answer: 66 km/h
Total distance 330 km ÷ total time 5 h = 66 km/h.
A coach travels 210 km at 70 km/h. How long does the journey take?
Answer: 3 h
Time = 210 ÷ 70 = 3 hours.
A train travels at 90 km/h. How far does it go in 40 minutes?
Answer: 60 km
40 minutes is 2/3 of an hour, and 2/3 × 90 = 60 km.
A cyclist covers 48 km in 40 minutes. What is his average speed in km/h?
Answer: 72 km/h
40 minutes is 2/3 of an hour, and 48 ÷ 2/3 = 72 km/h.
A bus leaves a stop at 60 km/h. A car leaves the same stop 15 minutes later at 80 km/h, on the same road. How long after the car starts does it catch the bus?
Answer: 0.75 h
The bus is 15 km ahead when the car starts. The car gains 20 km each hour, so it catches up in 15 ÷ 20 = 0.75 h.
4 kg of cherries cost $27.60. What is the cost of 7 kg at the same rate?
Answer: $48.30
$27.60 ÷ 4 = $6.90 per kg, and 7 × $6.90 = $48.30.
Tap A fills a tank at 9 litres a minute and Tap B at 6 litres a minute. Both are on. How long does it take to fill an 180-litre tank?
Answer: 12 min
Together they fill 15 litres a minute, and 180 ÷ 15 = 12 min.
A lorry travels 360 km to a depot at 90 km/h and returns the same way at 60 km/h. What is its average speed for the round trip?
Answer: 72 km/h
Out 4 h + back 6 h = 10 h for 720 km, so the average is 72 km/h.
A printer prints 45 pages an hour. How long, including a 20-minute pause, does it take to print 360 pages?
Answer: 500 min
360 ÷ 45 = 8 hours = 480 minutes, plus the 20-minute pause, making 500 min.
A driver has 90 km left and is travelling at 60 km/h. She wants to arrive 15 minutes earlier than planned. By how many km/h must she increase her speed?
Answer: 12 km/h
At 60 km/h the last 90 km take 1.5 h. Saving 15 minutes means finishing in 1.25 h, so she needs 90 ÷ 1.25 = 72 km/h, an increase of 12 km/h.