SOLUTION: Mark made a business trip of 236 miles.He averaged 58mphfor the first part of the trip and 60mph for the second part.If the trip took 4 hours, how long did he travel at each rate?
Question 1152968: Mark made a business trip of 236 miles.He averaged 58mphfor the first part of the trip and 60mph for the second part.If the trip took 4 hours, how long did he travel at each rate?
This question "how long did he travel at each rate?" may relate to the distance and/or to the time.
Since it is not precisely determined in the post, I will assume that it relates to times.
Let "t" be the time spent traveling the first part.
Then the time traveling second part is (4-t) hours.
You have this single equation to find "t"
58*t + 60*(4-t) = 236 miles (total distance)
From the equation
58*t - 60*t = 236 - 60*4
-2t = - 4
t = = 2.
ANSWER. 2 hours for the first part and 2 hours for the second part.
CHECK. 2*58 + 2*60 = 236 miles. ! Precisely correct !
Equal times at two different rates makes for an average rate that is the average of those two rates.
236 miles in 4 hours is an average rate of 59mph. Since 59mph is the average of the two given rates of 58mph and 60mph, equal amounts of time were spent at the two rates.
And since the total time was 4 hours, 2 hours were spent at each rate.