document.write( "Question 1163874: The distance between town P and Q was 540 km. A car started from town P travelling at a speed of 100km/h towards town Q.At the same time,a van started from town Q travelling towards town P at a speed of 80 km/h. Find the distance travelled by the car when they pass each other. \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #788113 by jim_thompson5910(35256)![]() ![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( "Car 1 starts at point P and goes 100 km/h toward town Q. The distance traveled here is \n" ); document.write( "d = r*t \n" ); document.write( "d = 100t\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Car 2 will travel a distance of \n" ); document.write( "d = r*t \n" ); document.write( "d = 80t \n" ); document.write( "for similar reasoning, just with a different speed value of course.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Together the two distance expressions add to 100t+80t = 180t to represent the total distance traveled. When the two cars meet, this total distance must be 540\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "I recommend drawing a number line to plot P and Q at the endpoints. Somewhere in between those endpoints, plot point R. Point R is where the two cars meet. Segment PR has a distance of 100t while QR is of length 80t. The total is 180t as found above and this total must be equal to PR = 540.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So our equation to solve is \n" ); document.write( "180t = 540 \n" ); document.write( "which becomes \n" ); document.write( "t = 3 \n" ); document.write( "after dividing both sides by 180\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The last step is to plug this t value into each distance expression \n" ); document.write( "100t = 100*3 = 300 is the distance car 1 travels \n" ); document.write( "80t = 80*3 = 240 is the distance car 2 travels\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Answers: \n" ); document.write( "The car starting at point P traveled 300 miles \n" ); document.write( "The car starting at point Q traveled 240 miles \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |