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
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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):
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.
