SOLUTION: a motorcycle traveling at 50 miles per hour overtakes a car going 40 miles per hour who had a three hour head start. how far from the starting point are the two vehicles ? i just

Question 469808: a motorcycle traveling at 50 miles per hour overtakes a car going 40 miles per hour who had a three hour head start. how far from the starting point are the two vehicles ?
i just need to know formula
Answer by kingme18(98) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Distance = rate * time

Motorcycle: Distance = 50mph * x hours
Car: Distance = 40mph * (x+3) hours (since the car had 3 extra hours to drive)

When they meet with each other, they will have gone the same distance, so you can set these equal to each other:

Notice that we need to solve for x, but that will give us the number of hours; you'll have to plug back in for distance.

You said you just need the formula, so stop reading now if you don't want more help solving it :)

First, distribute 40 through the parentheses:
Subtract 40x from both sides to bring all of the variables to the left:
Divide through by 10 to isolate x:
12 hours after the motorcycle leaves, it will meet up with the car.

Distance: 50 mph * 12 hours = 600 miles from where they started

You can check with the car's formula: 40 mph * (12+3) hours = 600 miles.
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