Problema Solution
Jeff had been hiking for 5 hours when he passed by Jake, who left the same starting point 30 minutes later. If Jeff hiked along at 3mph, find the rate of Jake.
Answer provided by our tutors
Let
t1 = 5 hours is the hiking time of Jeff
v1 = 3 mph is the rate of Jeff
For Jake we can denote:
The hiking time t2 = t1 - 0.5 = 5 - 0.5 = 4.5 hours since 30 min = 30 / 60 h = 0.5 hours
We need to find 'v2' the rate of Jake.
Also let S be the length on the road passed when they met.
Since the rate = length / time we have length = rate * time:
S = v1 * t1
S = v2 * t2
that is
v1 * t1 = v2 * t2
v2 = (v1 * t1) / t2
v2 = (3 * 5) / 4.5
v2 = 3.33 mph approximately
The rate of Jake is 3.33 mph approximately.