You are driving home on a weekend from school at 65mph for 130 miles. It then starts to snow and you slow to 45 mph. You arrive home after driving 4 hours. How far is your hometown from school?

Question

First I found the time with d/v=t so 130/65= 2 hours

Then I used d= (v-v_0)/(t-t_0)
=(45-65)/(4-2)
=-20mph/2hours
=-10 miles

distance can't be negative can it so Would the answer just be 10 miles?

Answer 1

Figure the time on each leg (first leg 130mi/65mph, second leg is 4hrs minus first time).

distance = 130mi + timesecondleg*45mph