Question 9363: I need help in figuring out this problem
A Child walks along a river bank and a friend rafts on the river. The rafting friend starts from the same point as the walker but leaves an hour later. If the walker's speed is 3mph and the rafter's speed is 9 mph, how far will they have traveled before the rafter catches up to the walker?
Answer by glabow(165)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let's call the time it takes to catch up x.
The walker will travel 3 miles for each hour, or 3x.
The rafter will travel 9 miles for each hour, or 9x.
But the walker starts an hour earlier, so the walker has walked for x+1 hours.
When the rafter catches up, it means they have each traveled the same distance from the start, so 3(x+1) = 9x.
This reduces to 3x + 3 = 9x, and 3 = 6x.
So what is x?
That's how many hours it takes for the rafter to catch up. [Hint: it's only a fraction of an hour]
And now, how far will each of them go in that time? It better be the same distance!
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