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A tourist being chased by an angry bear is running in a straight line toward his car at a speed of 3.9 m/s. The car is a distance d away. The bear is 23 m behind the tourist and running at 6.0 m/s. The tourist reaches the car safely. What is the maximum possible value for d?

1 Answer

2 votes
If it takes
t seconds to reach the car, then the distance
d is
3.9t.

The bear's distance from the tourist's starting point is

6t-23

For maximum
d, we set the equations equal to each other:

3.9t=6t-23

\Rightarrow -2.1t=-23

\Rightarrow t=(23)/(2.1)
so the distance is

d=3.9((23)/(2.1))\approx42.741\ m
User Rilke Petrosky
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