Scott can ran a half-marathon (21.1 km) in 128 minutes. Convert his pace to minutes per mile. (1 km = 0.6214 miles) Round your answer to the nearest tenth.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Answer: Scott’s pace is approximately 9.6 minutes per mile.
Explanation:
To find Scott’s pace in minutes per mile, we first need to convert the distance from kilometers to miles. Then, we divide his total time by the number of miles to determine how long he takes to run each mile.
- Convert kilometers to miles:
21.1 km×0.6214 miles/km=13.11654 miles21.1 \text{ km} \times 0.6214 \text{ miles/km} = 13.11654 \text{ miles}
- Calculate pace in minutes per mile:
128 minutes13.11654 miles≈9.759 minutes/mile\frac{128 \text{ minutes}}{13.11654 \text{ miles}} \approx 9.759 \text{ minutes/mile}
- Round to the nearest tenth:
9.759≈9.8 minutes/mile9.759 \approx 9.8 \text{ minutes/mile}
However, based on a more precise computation often required for competitive pacing, if we carry more decimal places during the conversion step, some rounding differences may occur depending on calculator use. A highly accurate conversion gives a slightly different total distance of 13.1125 miles and yields:
12813.1125≈9.762 minutes/mile⇒9.8 minutes/mile\frac{128}{13.1125} \approx 9.762 \text{ minutes/mile} \Rightarrow 9.8 \text{ minutes/mile}
But the initial conversion is sufficient for this case. To break it down conceptually: running pace measures how long it takes to cover a unit of distance. Since Scott’s time for 21.1 kilometers is known, and 1 kilometer equals approximately 0.6214 miles, converting the total distance to miles standardizes the unit. Then, by dividing time by miles, we get minutes per mile — the desired pace measurement. Rounding to the nearest tenth refines the answer for practical use in race planning or training evaluations.
