SOLUTION: A car travels from one town to another at a speed of 32 mph. If it had gone 4 mph faster, it could have made the trip in 1/2 hr less time. How far apart are the towns? So far I

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Question 275564: A car travels from one town to another at a speed of 32 mph. If it had gone 4 mph faster, it could have made the trip in 1/2 hr less time. How far apart are the towns?
So far I have 32t = 36t + 18
-32t + 32t = 36t - 32t + 18 - 18
-18 = 4t
-18/4t = 4t/4
-4 1/2 = t
d = 32t
d = 32(-4.5)
d = -144
Is this right?

Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The distance cannot be negative so I guess your work is questionable.
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A car travels from one town to another at a speed of 32 mph. If it had gone 4 mph faster, it could have made the trip in 1/2 hr less time. How far apart are the towns?
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Early DATA:
rate = 32 mph ; distance = x miles; time = d/r = x/32 hrs
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New DATA:
rate = 36 mph ; distance = x miles ; time = d/r = x/36 hrs
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Equation:
old time - new time = 1/2 hr
(x/32) - (x/36) = 1/2
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Simplify the left side to get:
(36x-32x)/32*36 = 1/2
4x = (32*36)/2
x = (9*16)
x = 144 miles (distance apart)
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Cheers,
Stan H.