SOLUTION: Tom Johnson and Melissa Acino started driving at the same time in different cars from Oklahoma City. They both traveled south on Route 35. When Melissa covered a distance of 207 &#

Question 1128909: Tom Johnson and Melissa Acino started driving at the same time in different cars from Oklahoma City. They both traveled south on Route 35. When Melissa covered a distance of 207 miles, Tom had only covered a distance of 177 miles. If Melissa averaged 10 miles per hour faster than Tom, find the average speed of each car.
Found 2 solutions by greenestamps, josgarithmetic:
Answer by greenestamps(13200) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Since the driving times are the same, the ratio of distances is the same as the ratio of speeds. Algebraically, if x is Tom's speed, then

You could finish solving the problem from here using formal algebra....

...etc

But if you think of simplifying the fraction on the left before doing the algebra, the answer to the problem becomes clear:

69 is 10 more than 59....

ANSWER: The two speeds are 69mph and 59mph.
Answer by josgarithmetic(39617) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Tom, speed r
Melissa, speed r+10

Same time, x.

-

-------Tom's speed
--------Melissa's speed
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