Question 43598
Eight minutes after a bank was robbed, the police started a chase to pursue the thief.  The thief was driving at 70 km./hr., while the police were driving at 90 km./hr.  How long did it take the police to catch up with the thief?

Thief DATA:
distance=?; rate=70km/hr; time= x minutes

Police DATA:
distance=?; rate=90km/hr; time = x-8 minutes

Conversion formula: distance = (rate)(time)

EQUATION:
thief distance = police distance

70x=90(x-8)
70=90x-720
-20x=-720
x=36 minutes 
x-8=28 minutes( time it takes police to catch up with thief)

Cheers,
Stan H.