The Definition of Unit Rate
Support Page

Example 1) Captain drives 250 miles in 4 hours. Find his unit rate in miles per hour.

• The rate is 250 miles / 4 hours.
• Divide the numerator by the denominator.
• To find the unit rate we need to divide 250 by 4.
• 250 ÷ 4 = 62.5
• The unit rate is 62.5 miles in an hour (it can also be written 62.5 miles per hour, 62.5 mph or 62.5 miles/hour).

Example 2) Tyger reads 100 pages of his book in 4 hours. What is the unit rate?

• The rate is 100 pages / 4 hours.
• Divide the numerator by the denominator.
• To find the unit rate, we need to divide 100 by 4.
• 100 ÷ 4 = 25
• The unit rate is 25 pagees in an hour (or 25 pages per hour).

Example 3) Sally spends 385 minutes doing her homework in a week. What is her unit rate in minutes per day?

• The rate is 385 minutes / 7 days.
• To find the unit rate we need to divide 385 by 7.
• 385 ÷ 7 = 55
• The unit rate is 55 minutes per day. She spends an average of 55 minutes per day doing homework.

Example 4) Frazer bakes 20 trays of cookies for a party. There are a total of 240 cookies. What is the unit rate of cookies per tray?

• The rate is 240 cookies / 20 trays.
• To find the unit rate we need to divide 240 by 20.
• 240 ÷ 20 = 12
• The unit rate is 12 cookies per tray.

Example 4) Quadra runs 5 miles in 32 minutes. What her unit rate in minutes per mile?

• The rate is 32 minutes / 5 miles.
• To find the unit rate we need to divide 32 by 5.
• 32 ÷ 5 = 6.4
• Her unit rate is 6.4 minutes per mile (or 6 minutes 24 seconds to run a mile)

Example 5) Captain buys 8 packs of fries for $14. What is the unit price?

• The rate is $14 / 8 packs.
• To find the unit price we need to divide 14 by 8.
• 14 ÷ 8 = 1.75
• The unit price is $1.75 per pack of fries.

Example 6) It costs $3100 to produce 40 remote control trucks. What is the unit cost?

• The rate is $3100 / 40 trucks.
• To find the unit cost we need to divide 3100 by 40.
• 3100 ÷ 40 = 77.5
• The unit cost is $77.50 per truck.

Example 7) I buy 3 packs of pens, with 4 pens in each pack for $22. What is the unit price per pen?

• There are 3 x 4 = 12 pens in the 3 packs.
• The rate is $22 / 12 pens.
• To find the unit price we need to divide 22 by 12.
• 22 ÷ 12 = 1.8333
• The unit price is $1.83 per pen (to the nearest cent).

Example 1) Frazer drives 310 miles in 6 hours. Captain drives 250 miles in 5 hours. Who drove fastest?

Frazer unit rate is 310 ÷ 6 = 51.67 miles in a hour (to 2dp)

Captain unit rate is 250 ÷ 5 = 50 miles in a hour.

Frazer drove the fastest.

Example 2) Sally buys 5 packs of cookies for $8. Flame buys 3 packs of the same cookies for $5. Who got the best deal?

Sally's unit price is $8 ÷ 5 = $1.60 per pack

Flame's unit price is $5 ÷ 3 = $1.67 (rounded to 2dp) per pack

Sally got the best deal.

Example 3) Quadra reads 400 pages of a book in 7 hours. Tyger reads 190 pages of the same book in 4 hours. Who has the faster reading speed?

Quadra's unit rate is 400 ÷ 7 = 57.1 pages per hour (to 1dp)

Tyger's unit rate is 190 ÷ 4 = 47.5 pages per hour (to 1dp)

Quadra has the faster reading speed.

Example 4) Frazer and Sally go fishing. Frazer catches 16 fish in 3 hours. Sally catches 23 fish in 5 hours. Who had the best hourly rate at catching fish?

Frazer's unit rate is 16 ÷ 3 = 5.3 fish per hour (to 1dp)

Sally's unit rate is 23 ÷ 5 = 4.6 fish per hour (to 1dp)

Frazer has the best hourly rate at catching fish.

Example 5) Gardener George plants 59 hedging plants evenly over a length of 18 yards. Gardener Georgina plants 75 hedging plants evenly over a length of 22 yards. Who plants their hedging plants furthest apart?

Gardener George's unit rate is 59 ÷ 18 = 3.3 yards per plant (to 1dp)

Gardener Georgina's unit rate is 75 ÷ 22 = 3.4 yards per plant (to 1dp)

Gardener Georgina plants her plants furthest apart.