2011 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 9

Problem

Carmen takes a long bike ride on a hilly highway. The graph indicates the miles traveled during the time of her ride. What is Carmen's average speed for her entire ride in miles per hour?

[asy] import graph; size(8.76cm); real lsf=0.5; pen dps=linewidth(0.7)+fontsize(10); defaultpen(dps); pen ds=black; real xmin=-3.58,xmax=10.19,ymin=-4.43,ymax=9.63;  draw((0,0)--(0,8)); draw((0,0)--(8,0)); draw((0,1)--(8,1)); draw((0,2)--(8,2)); draw((0,3)--(8,3)); draw((0,4)--(8,4)); draw((0,5)--(8,5)); draw((0,6)--(8,6)); draw((0,7)--(8,7)); draw((1,0)--(1,8)); draw((2,0)--(2,8)); draw((3,0)--(3,8)); draw((4,0)--(4,8)); draw((5,0)--(5,8)); draw((6,0)--(6,8)); draw((7,0)--(7,8)); label("$1$",(0.95,-0.24),SE*lsf); label("$2$",(1.92,-0.26),SE*lsf); label("$3$",(2.92,-0.31),SE*lsf); label("$4$",(3.93,-0.26),SE*lsf); label("$5$",(4.92,-0.27),SE*lsf); label("$6$",(5.95,-0.29),SE*lsf); label("$7$",(6.94,-0.27),SE*lsf); label("$5$",(-0.49,1.22),SE*lsf); label("$10$",(-0.59,2.23),SE*lsf); label("$15$",(-0.61,3.22),SE*lsf); label("$20$",(-0.61,4.23),SE*lsf); label("$25$",(-0.59,5.22),SE*lsf); label("$30$",(-0.59,6.2),SE*lsf); label("$35$",(-0.56,7.18),SE*lsf); draw((0,0)--(1,1),linewidth(1.6)); draw((1,1)--(2,3),linewidth(1.6)); draw((2,3)--(4,4),linewidth(1.6)); draw((4,4)--(7,7),linewidth(1.6)); label("HOURS",(3.41,-0.85),SE*lsf); label("M",(-1.39,5.32),SE*lsf); label("I",(-1.34,4.93),SE*lsf); label("L",(-1.36,4.51),SE*lsf); label("E",(-1.37,4.11),SE*lsf); label("S",(-1.39,3.7),SE*lsf);  clip((xmin,ymin)--(xmin,ymax)--(xmax,ymax)--(xmax,ymin)--cycle);[/asy]

$\textbf{(A)}2\qquad\textbf{(B)}2.5\qquad\textbf{(C)}4\qquad\textbf{(D)}4.5\qquad\textbf{(E)}5$

Solution

We observe the graph and see that the shape of the graph does not matter. We only want the total time it took Carmen and the total distance she traveled. Based on the graph, Carmen traveled 35 miles for 7 hours. Therefore, her average speed is $\boxed{\textbf{(E)}\ 5}$

See Also

2011 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 8
Followed by
Problem 10
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All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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