New York is 2,444 miles from Los Angeles. What is that distance in car-hours? In car-days? (Assume a travel speed of \(70 \mathrm{mph} .)\)

Calculating travel time is about figuring out how long it will take to get from one place to another at a certain speed. Imagine you are driving from New York to Los Angeles, which is 2,444 miles apart. If you drive at a constant speed of 70 miles per hour (mph), you can calculate the travel time using a simple formula.
First, you need to divide the distance by the speed:
\(\text{Time (in hours)} = \frac{\text{Distance (in miles)}}{\text{Speed (in mph)}}\)
By plugging in our numbers:
\(\text{Time (in hours)} = \frac{2444}{70}\)
This gives us roughly 34.914 hours.
Knowing how long it will take in hours is helpful but sometimes you also want to convert it into days to get a better understanding.

The relationship between distance and speed is fundamental in understanding travel time. When you know two of these variables, you can easily find out the third. Here’s how it works:

• If you know the distance and the speed, you can find the time using the formula: \(\text{Time} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Speed}}\)
• If you know the time and the speed, you can find the distance using the formula: \(\text{Distance} = \text{Speed} \times \text{Time}\)
• If you know the distance and the time, you can find the speed using the formula: \(\text{Speed} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Time}}\)

Understanding this relationship helps you plan your journey better. For example, if you want to reach Los Angeles from New York faster, you can calculate how much you need to increase your speed, or how much less distance you need to cover. This relationship is powerful in everyday decision-making, especially when planning long trips.

Unit conversion is crucial when you need to express your answers in different units. In our example, we initially calculated the travel time in hours. But we also might need to know how many days it would take for a better perspective.
To convert hours to days, you divide the total number of hours by the number of hours in a day (24 hours). The formula for this is:
\(\text{Time (in days)} = \frac{\text{Time (in hours)}}{24}\)
Applying the values we found:
\(\text{Time (in days)} = \frac{34.914}{24}\)
This works out to approximately 1.455 days.

• Knowing how to convert units allows you to communicate your results more clearly.
• It also helps in making better travel plans and understanding the scale of your journey.

Whether you're switching from hours to days, or miles to kilometers, mastering unit conversions is key to problem-solving.