Question

Two cyclists leave town at the same time on the same road going in  the same direction. Cyclist a is going 6 miles per hour faster than cyclist b. After 8 hours, cyclist a has traveled three times the distance as cyclist b. Use the equation 24x= 8(x+6) to find how fast cyclist b was traveling.

Answer 1

24x=8x+48
16x=48
/16 /16

x=3

Answer 2

3 mph

Explanation:

Two cyclists leave town at the same time on the same road going in the same direction.

Cyclist A is going 6 mph faster than cyclist B

Let speed of cyclist B be x mph

Speed of cyclist A be (x+6) mph

Both cyclist leave town at the same time and traveled 8 hours.

• Distance covered by cyclist A in 8 hours= 8(x+6)

• Distance covered by cyclist B in 8 hours= 8x

After 8 hours cyclist A has traveled 3 times the distance as cyclist B

Therefore, 8(x+6) = 3(8x)

8x + 48 = 24x

24x - 8x = 48

16x = 48

x = 3 mph

Hence, The speed of cyclist B was 3 mph