Question

A dolphin is swimming at a speed of 12 miles per hour. It takes her 5 minutes to travel 1/4 of the way out to the pod. How many miles from shore is the dolphin's pod?

It took Markus half an hour to drive home from work. He averaged 34 miles per hour. How far does Markus live from his work?

Solution

We are given that it takes 5 an hour for the trip. This is a time:

t = 5 minutes

We are given that he averages 12 miles per hour. This is a rate:

r = 12

We are asked how few he has traveled. This is a distance. We use the d=rt equation:

d = rt

= (5)(12)

= 60

Dolphin is 60 miles from shore.

Is this correct?

Answer 1

well, did you check your answer?
5 minutes = 1/12 hour
so she goes 1/12 * 12 = 1 mile
that makes the distance 4 miles

so, what went wrong? You used minutes instead of hours. Watch the units.
hr * mi/hr = miles

Answer 2

Ok, thank you. So, it's (1/12) times 12 = 1 mile

Then, 1 hr = 60 minutes
60 minutes / 5 minutes = 12 minutes which is 4 miles?