SOLUTION: hello i need help on this question. A jaguar travelled 1.2 times as fast as a Mercedes. the difference in their speeds was 24km /h. Find the speed of the car.

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Question 118148: hello i need help on this question.
A jaguar travelled 1.2 times as fast as a Mercedes. the difference in their speeds was 24km /h. Find the speed of the car.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(21685) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let x=speed of Jaguar, y=speed of Mercedes

Translate the first sentence "A jaguar traveled 1.2 times as fast as a Mercedes" to get the equation x=2y. Now translate the second sentence "the difference in their speeds was 24km /h" to get the equation x-y=24



Start with the given system
x-y=24
x=2y



%282y%29-y=24 Plug in x=2y into the first equation. In other words, replace each x with 2y. Notice we've eliminated the x variables. So we now have a simple equation with one unknown.


y=24 Combine like terms on the left side




Now that we know that y=24, we can plug this into x=2y to find x



x=2%2824%29 Substitute 24 for each y


x=48 Simplify


So our answer is x=48 and y=24



So the speed of the Jaguar is 48 km/h and the speed of the Mercedes is 24 km/h