Title: Average Rate of Change Task Question
Course: Calculus Videos Project > Section: Average Rate of Change

Q: A child is playing with two toy cars. The blue one is spring-loaded (so it accelerates) and the red one is battery-powered (so it travels at a constant speed). The blue toy car begins moving from rest. The distance d (in inches) of the car from its starting position t seconds since the car started moving is given by the formula . The red toy car traveling at a constant speed passed the first car the moment it started moving (at t=0). The blue car passed the second car 5 seconds later.
Red Blue Horizontal Increasing Speedup
How do the average speeds of the two cars over the first five seconds of their trip compare?
- The red car's average speed is greater
- The blue car's average speed is greater
- Sometimes the red car's average speed is greater, sometimes the blue car's is
- The cars' average speeds are equal
- It is not possible to tell
A: The cars' average speeds are equal