Problema Solution

Boyd the bicyclist leaves home to visit Carlene, the race-car driver. At the same time, Carlene leaves home to visit Boyd. They each proceed at a steady rate along the same road. After passing each other, Boyd takes 25 times as long to complete the trip as Carlene. Find the ratio of their speeds.

Answer provided by our tutors

lets


v1 = the speed of Boyd the bicyclist

v2 = the speed of the race-car driver

t = the time of the travel before they meet


after t hours


Boyd the bicyclist will pass the distance of v1*t miles

the race-car driver will pass the distance of v2*t miles


after passing each other, Boyd takes 25 times as long to complete the trip as Carlene


after passing each other Boyd travels the distance of v2*t miles in (v2*t)/v1 hours time

after passing each other race-car driver travels the distance of v1*t miles in (v1*t)/v2 hours time


Boyd takes 25 times as long to complete the trip as Carlene thus


(v2*t)/v1 = 25*(v1*t)/v2


(v2/v1)^2 = 25


v2/v1 = 5


the ratio of Carline's race-car speed and Boyd's bicycle speed is 5.