Question

a boat leaves the harbor and travels 11 mph toward a small island. 3 hours later, a cabin cruiser leaves the same harbor and travels 33 mph. how many hours after the cabin cruiser leaves the harbor will be next to the motorboat

Answer 1

let the time taken by the cabin cruiser to catch up to the boat be t hours
So 33t = 11(t+3)
33t = 11t + 33
22t = 33
t = 33/22 = 3/2

check:
the boat went for 3+3/2 or 4.5 hours
at 11 mph, went 49.5 miles
the cruiser went for 3/2 hours at
33 mph, went 49.5
looks like it caught up
My answer is correct

Answer 2

so the cabin cruiser caught up in 3/2 hours?

Answer 3

Yes, I think I had that.
Look at my definition of t