A car travels 440 miles in 5 hours. What is the average speed in miles per hour? 44 88 220...

1. TRANSLATE the problem information

• Given information:
  • Distance traveled: 440 miles
  • Time taken: 5 hours
  • Need to find: average speed in miles per hour

2. INFER the appropriate formula

• For average speed problems, we use: \(\mathrm{Average\, speed = \frac{Total\, distance}{Total\, time}}\)
• This gives us the rate of travel per unit of time

3. Apply the formula

• \(\mathrm{Average\, speed = \frac{440\, miles}{5\, hours} = 88\, miles\, per\, hour}\)

Answer: B (88)

Why Students Usually Falter on This Problem

Most Common Error Path:

Arithmetic confusion: Students sometimes multiply instead of divide when they see two numbers in a word problem.

They might calculate \(\mathrm{440 \times 5 = 2{,}200}\) instead of \(\mathrm{440 \div 5 = 88}\).

This leads them to select Choice D (2,200).

The Bottom Line:

The key insight is recognizing that "average speed" always means dividing total distance by total time. Students who rush through the arithmetic or confuse the operation will select wrong answers, even though they may understand the concept of average speed.