Problema Solution

A motorcycle traveling at 70 miles per hour overtakes a car traveling at 40 miles per hour that had a three-hour head start.How far from the starting point are the two vehicles given that they started from the same point?

Answer provided by our tutors

let


v1 = 70 mph the speed of the motorcycle


t = the time of the motorcycle


v2 = 40 mph the speed of the car


t + 3 = the time of the car (the car had a three-hour head start)


since they both traveled the same distance and distance = speed*time we have:


v1t = v2(t + 3)


70t = 40(t + 3)


by solving we find:


t = 4 hr


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the distance = v1*t = 70*4 = 280 miles.