SOLUTION: A man with a scooter and two friends had to make a journey of 52 miles. The man decided he would take the first friend a certain distance while the second walked. He would drop the

Algebra ->  Coordinate Systems and Linear Equations  -> Linear Equations and Systems Word Problems -> SOLUTION: A man with a scooter and two friends had to make a journey of 52 miles. The man decided he would take the first friend a certain distance while the second walked. He would drop the      Log On


   



Question 1163721: A man with a scooter and two friends had to make a journey of 52 miles. The man decided he would take the first friend a certain distance while the second walked. He would drop the first friend off to walk the remainder of the 52 miles, return to meet the second friend, pick him up, and proceed to the end of the journey finishing just as the first friend finished. If the scooter travels 20 mph, the first friend 4 mph, and the second friend 5 mph, how far away in miles from the starting point should the man drop off the first friend and turn around? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer by ikleyn(52781) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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A man with a scooter and two friends had to make a journey of 52 miles.
The man decided he would take the first friend a certain distance while the second walked.
He would drop the first friend off to walk the remainder of the 52 miles, return to meet the second friend,
pick him up, and proceed to the end of the journey finishing just as the first friend finished.
If the scooter travels 20 mph, the first friend 4 mph, and the second friend 5 mph, how far away in miles from the starting point
should the man drop off the first friend and turn around? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.
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Let x be that distance from the start, the problems asks for.


Then the time of the whole journey for the first friend is

    x%2F20 + %2852-x%29%2F4  hours.     (1)


Then the scooter returns back to meet the second frient.  Let's find time "t" for this particular trip.


We write the distance equation for the scooter returning back and the second frieng walking toward him

    20t + 5t = x.


From this equation, the time to return for the scooter is  t = x%2F25 hours.


During this time  t = x%2F25 hours, the seconf frient travels  5%2A%28x%2F25%29 = x%2F5 kilometers.


So, now they together should cover  52-x%2F5 = %28260-x%29%2F5 kilometers at the rate of 20 km/h.


It will take  %28260-x%29%2F%285%2A20%29 = %28260-x%29%2F100 hours.


Thus the total time traveling for the second friend is

    x%2F20 + x%2F25 + %28260-x%29%2F100 hours.    (2)


You should identify each addend in this expression, based on my descriptions above.


Lastly, our final equation says that the time (1)  is equal to the time  (2)

    x%2F20 + %2852-x%29%2F4 = x%2F20 + x%2F25 + %28260-x%29%2F100.


At this point, I just completed setup for you.


You have now a simple linear equation to find x.


The rest is just a technique.

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At this point I complete my instructions.


If you will have difficulties or questions, do not hesitate ask me.

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Good luck (!)