SOLUTION: Your word problem on the first page was changed from "A freight train leaves the station traveling (50) miles an hour and a passenger train leaves the station 30 minutes later trav

Question 340963: Your word problem on the first page was changed from "A freight train leaves the station traveling (50) miles an hour and a passenger train leaves the station 30 minutes later traveling (70) miles per hour. How long will it take for the passenger train to catch up with the freight train?" to a totally different word problem no matter what tab I clicked. This was not helpful to me. Please show me how to set up a formula to solve this problem.
Answer by nerdybill(7384) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
A freight train leaves the station traveling (50) miles an hour and a passenger train leaves the station 30 minutes later traveling (70) miles per hour. How long will it take for the passenger train to catch up with the freight train?
.
Apply the distance formula of:
d = rt
where
d is distance (miles)
r is rate or speed
t is time (hours)
.
Realize that 30 minutes = .5 hours
.
Let x = hours traveled by the freight train
then
x - .5 = hours traveled by the passenger train
.
"distance traveled by freight train" = "distance traveled by passenger train"
50x = 70(x-.5)
50x = 70x-35
-20x = -35
x = 1.75 hours
or
x = 1 hour and 45 minutes

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