How to Calculate Speed From a 6-Minute Walk Test

If you know the distance and the time it took to reach that distance, you can calculate speed.

The six-minute walk test is commonly implemented by pulmonary rehabilitation programs to evaluate the health of a person's lungs. During the test, the person must walk for six minutes. The person is then evaluated on how heavily he is breathing and how well his lungs are operating. Science students can utilize the six-minute walk test to learn about speed. Speed is a function of distance over time.

Things You'll Need

• Stopwatch
• Tape measure
• Calculator

Instructions

1. Go to a high school track, football field or other location where the distances are already measured out in increments.

2. Start the stopwatch as soon as the walker begins his six-minute walk. Observe the walker during the entire six minutes and note how far he travels. When the stopwatch reaches six minutes, instruct the walker to stop.

3. Divide the distance the walker traveled by six minutes. The result is the speed of the walker.

   For example, assume a walker spent six minutes traveling on a track and walked one-half mile in six minutes. Divide the distance by the time and the result is approximately 5 miles per hour or about 440 feet per minute.

References

• YourLungHealth.org: 6 Minute Walk Test
• The Physics Hypertextbook: Speed & Velocity