Speed tells how fast something moves — Physical education, 7–10 years
Speed compares the distance travelled with the time taken. It helps us describe and predict motion.
What speed means
Speed tells us how much distance an object covers in a certain time. A toy car that travels far in ten seconds is faster than one that travels only a little. We can measure speed in metres per second or another distance-and-time pair.
Why compare distance and time?
Saying that something is fast is not enough when we need a fair comparison. Two runners may finish at different times because they ran different distances. Speed gives us one useful comparison: how much distance would each one cover in the same amount of time.
A toy car’s speed
A toy car travels 12 metres in 4 seconds. To find its speed, share the distance equally across the seconds: 12 ÷ 4 = 3. Its speed is 3 metres per second. If it kept that speed for 6 seconds, it would travel 18 metres.
The common mix-up
A common mistake is to add distance and time, or to divide time by distance. It feels reasonable because both numbers describe the journey, but they answer different questions. Speed asks how much distance belongs to one unit of time, so distance is divided by time.
Speed in daily life
Speed appears whenever we plan a journey. A map app estimates arrival time from distance and travel speed, while a cyclist uses speed to judge whether a turn is safe. Sports, trains and road signs also use speed, but real movement may change from one moment to the next.
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