Question 230535
An express train and a local train leave a station at the same time (on separate tracks) and head for a town 50 miles away.
 The express travels twice as fast as the local and arrives 1 hour ahead of the local.
 Find the speed of each train.
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I can't imagine why you would use two variables and two equations on this problem
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simple time equation would work fine
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Let s = speed of the slow train
then
2s = speed of the fast train
:
slow train time = fast train time + 1 hr
{{{50/s}}} = {{{50/(2s)}}} + 1
Multiply by 2s
2(50) = 50 + 2s
100 - 50 = 2s
2s = 50
s = 25 mph, slow train and 50 mph fast train
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Check solution in time equation
{{{50/25}}} = {{{50/50}}} + 1