document.write( "Question 591614: If I walk 50kms. The first day I walk so far the next day I walk half as much and on the 3rd day I walk a third of the day before and on the fourth day a fourth of the day previously, How far did I walk the first day \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #375678 by Theo(13342)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
you don't have enough information to come up with a single answer.
\n" ); document.write( "you can solve this problem, but you will need to know either:
\n" ); document.write( "total time
\n" ); document.write( "or:
\n" ); document.write( "total distance
\n" ); document.write( "the basic formula is RT = D
\n" ); document.write( "R = rate of travel
\n" ); document.write( "T = time
\n" ); document.write( "D = distance
\n" ); document.write( "i don't know what you mean by kms.
\n" ); document.write( "if that's kilometers per second then it's not realistic.
\n" ); document.write( "the average person walks 3 miles per hour which is roughly equivalent to 5 kilometers per hour.
\n" ); document.write( "that would be 5kph.
\n" ); document.write( "i will assume 5kph.
\n" ); document.write( "assuming that, this is how it will work out.
\n" ); document.write( "the distance traveled is shown as follows:
\n" ); document.write( "day 1 equals D
\n" ); document.write( "day 2 equals D/2
\n" ); document.write( "day 3 equals (D/2)/3 which is equal to D/6
\n" ); document.write( "day 4 equals (D/6)/4 which is equal to D/24
\n" ); document.write( "the total distance traveled over the 4 days is:
\n" ); document.write( "D + D/2 + D/6 + D/24
\n" ); document.write( "this comes out to be 41D/24 total.
\n" ); document.write( "D = 24D/24
\n" ); document.write( "D/2 = 12D/24
\n" ); document.write( "D/6 = 4D/24
\n" ); document.write( "D/24 = D/24
\n" ); document.write( "since they now have a common denominator, just add up the numerators and divide the total by the denominator to get (24 + 12 + 4 + 1)/24 which is equal to:
\n" ); document.write( "41D/24
\n" ); document.write( "the rate is always the same (5kmph)
\n" ); document.write( "the total time is calculated by use of the formula to get:
\n" ); document.write( "total time * rate = total distance
\n" ); document.write( "we solve for time to get:
\n" ); document.write( "total time = total distance / rate
\n" ); document.write( "since total distance is equal to 41D/24, and since rate is equal to 5kmph, this becomes:
\n" ); document.write( "total time = (41D/24) / 5 which becomes 41D/(24*5) which becomes .3416666667D
\n" ); document.write( "your final equation is:\"
\n" ); document.write( "total time = .3416666667D
\n" ); document.write( "you have 2 unknowns in one equation.
\n" ); document.write( "best you can do is make an assumption about total time or about total distance.
\n" ); document.write( "when you know one of them, you can find the other.
\n" ); document.write( "you can't, however find both.
\n" ); document.write( "not with the information given.
\n" ); document.write( "i assumed the total time was 4 hours.
\n" ); document.write( "the equation of:
\n" ); document.write( "total time = .3416666667D becomes:
\n" ); document.write( "4 = .3416666667D
\n" ); document.write( "i then solved for D to get:
\n" ); document.write( "D = 4/.3416666667 = 11.70731707 kilometers
\n" ); document.write( "that distance only applies if the total time is 4 hours.
\n" ); document.write( "change the total time and the distance changes.
\n" ); document.write( "assuming that the total time is 4 hours, the day by day breakdown was:
\n" ); document.write( "
\r\n" );
document.write( "day              distance (km)          rate (kmph)          time (hours)\r\n" );
document.write( "1                  11.70731707          5                     2.341463415\r\n" );
document.write( "2                  5.853658537          5                     1.170731707\r\n" );
document.write( "3                  1.951219512          5                     0.3902439024\r\n" );
document.write( "4                  .487804878           5                     0.0975609756\r\n" );
document.write( "total              20                   ---                   4\r\n" );
document.write( "

\n" ); document.write( "total distance was 20 kilometers and total time was 4 hours.
\n" ); document.write( "distance traveled the first day was 11.70731707 kilometers
\n" ); document.write( "this value is only accurate if the total time was assumed to be 4 hours.
\n" ); document.write( "once again, there is not enough information provided to give an exact answer.
\n" ); document.write( "you have too many unknowns and not enough equations.
\n" ); document.write( "to get 1 answer, you need to have as many equations as you have unknowns (variables).
\n" ); document.write( "you had 2 unknowns (time and distance) with only 1 equation (rate * time = distance). \n" ); document.write( "
\n" );