Which term is the rate of travel along the incline, measured in feet per minute?

• A. Traveling Cable
• B. Vertical Speed
• C. Incline Speed
• D. Horizontal Speed

Answer: (C)

The main idea is how fast you move along the inclined surface itself. The rate of travel along the incline is the distance you cover along the slope per minute, measured in feet per minute. This is the speed you feel as you ascend the escalator, not just how high you rise or how far you move horizontally.

This term differs from vertical speed, which is how many feet you gain in height each minute, and from horizontal speed, which is how far you move along the floor per minute. The traveling cable, on the other hand, is the mechanism that drives motion, not a measure of speed. If you know the incline angle, you can relate these speeds: vertical speed equals incline speed times the sine of the angle, and horizontal speed equals incline speed times the cosine of the angle.