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Q.An aeroplane flies, along the four sides of a square at speeds of 100, 200, 300 and 400 kilometres per hour respectively. Find the average speed of the plane in its flight around the square.

Puducherry TnboardTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Commerce Board 2023Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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When equal distances are covered at different speeds, the average speed is the harmonic mean of the speeds: H.M.=n∑1xi=192\text{H.M.} = \dfrac{n}{\sum \frac{1}{x_i}} = 192 km/h.

Step 1 — Choose the right average.

The four sides of the square are equal in length but flown at different speeds, so the average speed is the harmonic mean (H.M.) of 100,200,300,400100, 200, 300, 400, with n=4n = 4.

Step 2 — Add the reciprocals (LCD =1200= 1200).

1100+1200+1300+1400=121200+61200+41200+31200=251200.\frac{1}{100}+\frac{1}{200}+\frac{1}{300}+\frac{1}{400} = \frac{12}{1200}+\frac{6}{1200}+\frac{4}{1200}+\frac{3}{1200} = \frac{25}{1200}.

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