Asked by Brian

I've been working on this for an hour and I know it's more simple than I'm making it. Please enlighten me.

Cyclist 1 is traveling at 20 mph, Cyclist 2 is traveling at 14 mph. How long before they're 15 miles apart?

I've tried to fill in a block diagram and work from there, but, I end up with too many variables.

Answers

Answered by Reiny
The key concept here is that the time they bike is the same for both.

I will assume they are traveling in opposite directions.

Let x miles be the distance the first one went, then 15-x is the distance the second one went
time of first = x/20
time for the second = (15-x)/14

solve x/20 = (15-x)/14

by cross-multiplying.

once you have x, put x into x/20 for the time in hours.

( I got .44 hours or 26.5 minutes.)

checking for reasonableness of answer.
26.5 minute is approx 1/2 hour
in 1/2 hour the first one went 10 miles in one direction, while the other biker went 7 miles, for a distance between of 17 miles.
since I estimated slightly over the time of the answer, I expected my estimated distance to be higher also.
So I am confident about my answer)
Answered by Brian
Thank you; however, the cyclists were traveling in the same direction, leaving at the same time. Therefore, I'm afraid I'm still without an answer.
Answered by Anonymous
bob columm covered the first 12 miles in 4 hours. he then increased the speed by 2 miles per hour. if the total distance of the trip was 52 miles, how long did it take to finish the trip?
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