prakhark wrote:
Carcass wrote:
Two vehicles leave the same location at exactly the same time, the first traveling due west and the second traveling due east. The average speed of the first vehicle is 10 miles per hour faster than the average speed of the second vehicle. When the two vehicles are 390 miles apart, the second vehicle has gone a distance of 180 miles. In how many hours will the two vehicles be 390 miles apart?
hello this is probably my first answer I took 2nd car speed as 100 and first as 110(as it was 10 miles faster)
distance was 390 apart and 2nd car got 180 miles more so i added both got 570
then taking speed=d/t formula
570/220 (220 adding both the speed)
got 2.59 what am i doing wrong if im putting numbers instead of doing algebra???
Picking numbers is always not (or almost) a bad strategy in problems like this
More on time/speed/distance
https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/gre-ti ... 24922.htmlYou should start from the classic formula and playing with that
Now
We need first the time (hours)
So Time = distance / speed
We want that the two vehicles have the same distance 390
However, their speed is different and the distance as well
The first went far 390 and the second 180 so the difference is 210
Car A Time = distance / speed = 210/x+10
Car B Time= distance/speed = 180/x
210/x+10=180/x
solve x=60
3 hours
Picking a number is a mess because you should find a number divisible by the distance to fit
Algebra can be solved in 3 easy steps
regards