SOLUTION: At 2:00 p.m, a car leaves Town A and another leaves Town B. The distance between the two towns is 60 km. One car travels 10 kph faster than the other. The cars, pass each other at

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Travel -> SOLUTION: At 2:00 p.m, a car leaves Town A and another leaves Town B. The distance between the two towns is 60 km. One car travels 10 kph faster than the other. The cars, pass each other at      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 952058: At 2:00 p.m, a car leaves Town A and another leaves Town B. The distance between the two towns is 60 km. One car travels 10 kph faster than the other. The cars, pass each other at 2:30 p.m. How far does each travel?
Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Think of this as one car standing still and
the other traveling at the sum of their speeds
Let +s+ = the speed of the slower car in km/hr
+s+%2B+10+ = the speed of the faster car in km/hr
Fro 2 PM to 2:30 PM = +1%2F2+ hr
-------------------------------------
+60+=+%28+s+%2B+s+%2B+10+%29%2A%281%2F2%29+
+120+=+2s+%2B+10+
+2s+=+110+
+s+=+55+
+s+%2B+10+=+65+
-----------------
Now change thinking back to both cars moving
Let +d%5B1%5D+ = distance in km slower car travels
Let +d%5B2%5D+ = distance in km faster car travels
---------------------
+d%5B1%5D+=+55%2A%281%2F2%29+
+d%5B1%5D+=+27.5+
and
+d%5B2%5D+=+65%2A%281%2F2%29+
+d%5B2%5D+=+32.5+
The slower car travels 27.5 km
The faster car travels 32.5 km
-----------------------------
check:
+27.5+%2B+32.5+=+60+
OK