Problema Solution

John and Tony start from the same place at the same time and head for a town 10 miles away. John walks twice as fast as Tony and arrives 3 hours before Tony. Find the speed of each.

Answer provided by our tutors

Let


v1 = the speed of John

v2 = the speed of Tony

t1 = the walking time of John

t2 = the walking time of Tony

d = 10 miles the walking distance


v1 = 2*v2 (John walks twice as fast as Tony)


t2 = t1 + 3 (John arrives 3 hours before tony)


speed = distance / time


v1 = 10/t1 => t1 = 10/v1


v2 = 10/t2 => t2 = 10/v2


Thus we have the system of equations


v1 = 2*v2

10/v2 = 10/v1 + 3


by solving it


10/v2 = 10/(2*v2) + 3 multiply both sides by v2


10 = 5 + 3*v2


v2 = 5/3 mph = 1.67 mph approximately


v1 = 10/3 mph = 3.33 mph approximately


The speed of John is 1.67 mph approximately.


The speed of Tony is 3.33 mph approximately.