Problema Solution
Two cars left at the same time traveling 55 miles per hour. Car one is driving due north, car two is driving due east. They can communicate by walkie talkies. The walkie talkie range is 400 miles. How long will it take for them to be out of talking range?
Answer provided by our tutors
let
v = 55 mph the speed of the cars
d = 400 mi the distance between them
t = the time of the travel until they are 400 mi apart, t>0
the paths of the car are the legs and the distance between them is the hypotenuse of a right triangle
using the Pythagorean Theorem we can write
(v*t)^2 + (vt)^2 = d^2
2(55t)^2 = 400^2
by solving we find
t = 5.14 s
click here to see the step by step solution of the equation
it will take 5.14 seconds for the walkie talkies to be out of range.