Playbook
Time, Speed and Distance
75 q · 13% HARD · about 3.5 a paper. Average speed is 22 questions at 5%; races and speed changes are the only pages with any real cost.
- Questions in the bank
- 75
- q/paper (21 papers)
- 3.57
- Tagged HARD
- 13%
- Subtopics
- 7
Strand: Quick-Win
When you’ll see it
Speeds, times and distances: trains, boats, races, clocks or two people moving.
How this chapter is tested
75 questions, about 3.5 a paper, at 13% HARD. Average speed and speed-time ratios are the largest page (22 questions at 5% HARD); boats and streams has never set a HARD question.
Two ideas carry the chapter: total distance over total time, and relative speed as a sum (towards each other) or a difference (same direction).
The sub-skills
The distinct skills inside the chapter, in the order to learn them.
Average speed
Total distance ÷ total time; equal distances at u and v give 2uv/(u + v).
Relative speed
Add speeds for approaching objects, subtract for the same direction.
Trains
A train passing an object covers its own length plus the object's.
Boats and streams
Boat = (down + up)/2, stream = (down − up)/2.
Clocks
The hands separate at 5.5° a minute.
Traps to expect
Distractor shapes this chapter reuses. The Traps page covers the ones that cut across chapters.
Average of the speeds
(u + v)/2 is wrong when equal DISTANCES are covered.
Unit conversion
km/h to m/s is × 5/18.
Learn it before you drill it
This chapter has full teaching notes — foundations, worked examples, self-checks and a mastery check for each subtopic. Read the notes once, then drill subtopic by subtopic below.
Time, Speed and Distance notesDrill every Time, Speed and Distance question
75 questions from the bank, across 7 subtopics.
Drill one subtopic at a time
The 7 subtopics, in teaching order.
- Average Speed and Speed–Time RatiosDrill Average Speed and Speed–Time Ratios
- Speed Changes and EquationsDrill Speed Changes and Equations
- Relative Speed: Chasing and MeetingDrill Relative Speed: Chasing and Meeting
- Trains and Relative SpeedDrill Trains and Relative Speed
- Boats and StreamsDrill Boats and Streams
- RacesDrill Races
- Clocks and AnglesDrill Clocks and Angles
Related playbooks
Often paired with this one — the technique or the trap overlaps. Drill these next.