Question 80361
Tom walked to the meeting at 2 miles per hour and caught a ride home in an old truck at 10 miles per hour. How far was it to the meeting place if his total travel time was 18 hours?
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Make this chart

          DISTANCE   RATE     TIME
Walking                                      
Riding                              

Let x be the distance to the meeting place. 
So fill n x for each distance.


          DISTANCE   RATE     TIME
Walking     x                               
Riding      x                     

Fill in the rates 

          DISTANCE   RATE     TIME
Walking     x          2                     
Riding      x         10          

Fill in the TIMES using TIME = DISTANCE/RATE


          DISTANCE   RATE     TIME
Walking     x          2       x/2           
Riding      x         10      x/10

Since the total time was 18 hours, we make the 
equation by adding the times and setting the
sum = 18

  x/2 + x/10 = 18

Solve that and get x = 30 miles.

Edwin</pre>