Problema Solution

Two friends decide to meet in Chicago to attend a Cub's baseball game. Rob travels 171 miles in the same time that Carl travels 156 miles. Rob's trip uses more interstate highways and he can average 5 mph more than Carl. What is Rob's average speed?

Answer provided by our tutors

Let

v = Carl's average speed, v>=0

v + 5 = Rob's average

d1 = 156 mi the distance Carl travels

d2 = 171 mi the distance Rob travels

Since speed = distance/time follows time = distance/speed and since they traveled the same time we have:

d1/v = d2/(v + 5)

156/v = 171/(v + 5)

........

click here to see the equation solved for v

........

v = 52 mph

v + 5 = 52 + 5 = 57 mph

Rob's average speed is 57 mph.