Question 264958
Fifteen minutes after a boy left for school on his bike, his mother noticed that he left his term paper on the kitchen table. His mother left home, driving at a rate of 32 mph, to catch up to him.
 If he had been bicycling at a rate of 8 mph, how long did it take his mother to catch up with him?
:
Change 15 min to .25 hrs
:
Let t = travel time of the mother
then
(t+.25) = travel time of the boy
:
When Mom catches boy they will have traveled the same distance,
write a distance equation Dist = speed * time
:
Mom's dist = boy's dist
32t = 8(t+.25)
32t = 8t + 2
32t - 8t = 2
24t = 2 
t = {{{2/24}}} * 60 = 5 minutes to catch him
:
:
Check solution by finding the dist each traveled (boy's travel time 15 + 5 = 20 min)
5/60(32) = 2.67 mi
20/60(8) = 2.67 mi