Aussie: Simple maths problem. Please help.?
two commuter trains carry passengers between two cities, one travelling east, and the other west, on different tracks. Their respective stations are 150 miles apart. both trains leave at the same time, one travelling at an average speed of 55 miles per hour and the other at an average speed of 65 miles per hour. let t represent the time until the trains pass each other
a)write an equation using t that describes the distances travelled
b)how long after departing will the train pass each other.
I don’t understand part a).. I can work out b) but I really don’t know a)! How can you do a) without the info gained in b)?
As t is the time until they pass it will become negative after they pass. Does my teacher mean the distance train A and train B travel added together? If so I have NO idea how to relate this to t!
Please help! Quick points!
Answers and Views:
Answer by Anonymous
IF IT’S SO SIMPLE THEN WHY DONT U DO IT BUTT HOLEEEEEEEEEEE!
distance between stations = 150 miles
speed of train A (traveling east) Ae= 55 mph
speed of train B traveling west Bw = 65 mph
t is the time travlled by both trains
distance formula : distance = speed*time
distance travel by Ae in time t = 55*t
distance travel by Bw in time t= 65*t
now total distance is 150 miles
55*t + 65*t = 150 — this is the equation using t which tell the diatnce travel by both trains . once the value of t got you can calculate the distance travel by each train using d=s*t forumals.
you need to consider length of train also. as length of train is also been covered by train itself.
hope tht helps u get a answ4r for ur question.
Answer by KYa) if the 2 trains are on different tracks and we’re talking about the total distance traversed by them, the formula would be (65 + 55)t or 120t
b) When the trains meet, the distance covered will be 150 miles, since that is the total distance between the 2 stations. Traveling at 120 (since they are in opposite directions), it will take 150/120 hours, or 1.25 hrs (1 hr 15 minutes) for them to meet.
The train going at 65 will have gone 81.25 miles
The train going at 55 will have gone 68.75 miles
Leave a Reply