The following word problem is for practicing the application of calculations.

Example 1:

An American motorist is taking a road trip through Canada. The motorist finds that the speed limit is 40 kilometers per hour, but his speedometer is given in units of miles per hour. What speed should the motorist drive in miles per hour?

To solve this problem, convert miles per hour to kilometers per hour by using the conversion that gives miles in terms of kilometers. Divide the number of kilometers by the conversion factor to get the miles per hour.

Conversion factor: kilometers ÷ 1.609 = miles
                    

40 ÷ 1.609 = miles/hour
40 ÷ 1.609 = 24.8

The motorist should be driving approximately 25 miles per hour.