Question 811722:  Noah drives 40 miles at a certain speed. Hitting serious traffic, he is forced to drive at a speed that is 60 mph slower. He drives at this new speed for 50 miles. If the entire trip takes 3 hours, what is his speed during each part of the trip? 
 Answer by mananth(16946)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! Noah drives 40 miles --------------x mph speed.  
50 miles ----------------(x-60) mph, 
the entire trip takes 3 hours, 
 
time part I + time part II=3
 
40/x + 50/(x-60)= 3
 
multiply by x(x-60)
 
40(x-60)+50x=x(x-60)*3
 
40x-2400+50x=3x^2-180x
 
3x^2-270x+2400=0
 
/3 
x^2-90x+800=0
 
x^2-80x-10x+800=0
 
x(x-80)-10(x-80)=0 
(x-80)(x-10)=0 
x=80 OR 10
 
ignore 10 
							 
Noah drives 40 miles --------------80 mph   
50 miles ----------------20  mph, 
 
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