SOLUTION: Ferdbert is taking a leisurely stroll through a train tunnel when he hears the whistle of an approaching train. From the markings on the tunnel wall, Ferdbert can tell that he is 2

Question 947616: Ferdbert is taking a leisurely stroll through a train tunnel when he hears the whistle of an approaching train. From the markings on the tunnel wall, Ferdbert can tell that he is 2/5 of the distance from one end go the tunnel and 3/5 of the distance from the other end of the tunnel. If Ferdbert runs as fast as he can, he can run either direction and make it out of the tunnel just as the train engine reaches that end of the tunnel. If the train is speeding along at 60 miles per hour, how fast can Ferdbert run?
Answer by KMST(5328) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
THE FIFTH GRADER ANSWER:
Ferdbert is obviously of the tunnel's length from the end the train is coming from,
but he is fast enough to get to that end of the tunnel just as the train gets there.
How long will it take Ferdbert to run that distance? We don't know, and we do not know how long that tunnel is either.
Ferdbert's other option is to run of the tunnel's length in the other direction,
and he will run at the same speed, and will get to that far end of the tunnel just as the train gets there.
How long will it take Ferdbert to run that distance? We don't know either.
What we know is that the difference between
the time it takes Ferdbert to run of the tunnel's length, and
the time it takes Ferdbert to run of the tunnel's length,
is the time that it would take Ferdbert to run of the tunnel's length.
That time is also the time that it takes a train to traverse the entire of the tunnel's length.
So, the train is traveling times as fast as Ferdbert can run,
and Ferdbert can run as fast as the train , or
.
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