SOLUTION: When you travel to work going 60 miles per hour, you arrive there early. When you travel to work going 30 miles per hour, you arrive there late. The amount of time you are earl

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Travel -> SOLUTION: When you travel to work going 60 miles per hour, you arrive there early. When you travel to work going 30 miles per hour, you arrive there late. The amount of time you are earl      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 763523: When you travel to work going 60 miles per hour, you arrive there early.
When you travel to work going 30 miles per hour, you arrive there late.
The amount of time you are early in the first case is the same as the amount of time you are late in the second.
How fast should you go to be there on time?
Answer by ramkikk66(644) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Let us say the distance to work is x miles.

Case 1: Time taken to travel x miles at 60 mph, is x/60 hours
Case 2: Time taken to travel x miles at 30 mph, is x/30 hours

Now it is given that x/60 is early and x/30 is late compared to the right time to arrive.
Also, the amount of "early" time is the same as the amount of "late" time.

So, it means that the "right" time is at the midpoint or average of the 2 times.

Right time to reach work = %28x%2F60+%2B+x%2F30%29%2F2+=+x%2F40

So you need to travel for x/40 hours, to cover the distance of x miles and reach work exactly on time.

So the average speed to be maintained = x%2F%28x%2F40%29+=+40

You need to travel at highlight%2840%29 mph to reach on time.

Hope you got it. Please email me if it's still not clear.

:)