I have to solve this proble and show equation but I do not
know where to start could you help me please?
Martina leaves home at 9 A.M., bicycling at a rate of 24 mi/h.
Two hours later, John leaves, driving at the rate of 48 mi/h.
At what time will John catch up with Martina?
You can do this in your head, but I'll do it by
algebra as well.
How to do it in your head:
at 11AM, when John leaves, Martina is already
48 miles down the road, since she has pedaled
at the (break-neck) speed of 24 mi/hr on a
bicycle for two hours! So John, driving at
48 mi/hr is approaching her at 24 mi/hr, so he
has to make up her 48 mile lead at 24 mi/hr
approach rate, so it'll obviously take him 2
hours, and 2 hours past 11AM is 1PM.
How to do it by algebra. Make this chart:
DISTANCE RATE TIME
Martina
John
Let the answer be t. So write t for John's
catch-up time
DISTANCE RATE TIME
Martina
John t
Since Martina has a 2-hour head start, her
time is t+2. So fill that in:
DISTANCE RATE TIME
Martina t+2
John t
Now fill in their rates which are given as
24 mi/hr and 48 mi/hr
DISTANCE RATE TIME
Martina 24 t+2
John 48 t
Now use DISTANCE = RATE×TIME to fill in the
two DISTANCEs:
DISTANCE RATE TIME
Martina 24(t+2) 24 t+2
John 48t 48 t
Now since they both traveled the same distance,
we set the DISTANCEs equal:
24(t+2) = 48t
Solve that and get t = 2 hours, which means John,
starting two hours later than 9AM, or 11AM, will
catch up to her in 2 hours past 11AM, or 1PM.
Edwin