Question

A train hauling coal leaves the train yard traveling west at 32 mph. Five hours later a train carrying appliances leaves the train yard traveling north at 40 mph. 1.Construct a diagram of the situation and write a function to express the distance between the two trains x hours after the train carrying appliances has departed. 2. How long after the train carrying appliances departs will the distance between the two trains be 260 miles. Having a hard time with placing the values and x and the whole concept.

Answer 1

the western and northern tracks form a right angle

the distance between the trains is the hypotenuse of the triangle

western distance ... 32 (x + 5)

northern distance ... 40 x

Answer 2

Thanks!