SOLUTION: Suppose you get on a steamboat at noon in New Orleans and steam up the Mississippi River towards St. Louis at 20mph. Two hours later a friend gets in a motor boat in New Orleans a

Question 247833: Suppose you get on a steamboat at noon in New Orleans and steam up the Mississippi River towards St. Louis at 20mph. Two hours later a friend gets in a motor boat in New Orleans and heads up river at 30 mph. What time does your friend catch up with you? Please help me translate this into an equation. Thanks
Answer by richwmiller(17219) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
y=your time
a=a friends time
y=a+2
why a+2 because the friend is two hours later
20y=30a
rt=d
because they are going the same distance (catch up) we can set the two r*t's equal to each other.
substitute a+2 for y
20(a+2)=30a
20a+40=30a
40=10a
a=4
y=6
check
20y=30a
20(6)=30(4)
120=120
ok
noon+6=6pm
They went 120 miles up the Mississippi
FYI Hurricane Katrina destroyed things that far up the Mississippi
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