John drives his car 120 miles east in 2 hours, 90 miles east in 1.5 hours, then he stops at the gas station for half an hour. He soon realizes that he has to go back 8 miles west which takes him one hour to reach his final destination. Calculate his average velocity during the entire time.

Answer: 44.9 m/s

Explanation:

Velocity = displacement/time

While displacement is the distance travelled in a specific direction.

The east direction will be positive while the west direction will be negative.

The total displacement will be:

120 + 90 - 8 = 202 miles

While the total time will be:

2 + 1.5 + 1 = 4.5 hours

Half hour time he used in the gas station will not be considered.

Average Velocity = total displacement : total time.

Average velocity = 202/4.5

Average velocity = 44.89 m/s

Average velocity through out the entire time is 44.9 m/s