Question

Your biking at a speed of 18 miles per hour. Your 3 miles behind your friend, who is biking at a speed of 12 miles per hour. Write and solve an equation to find the amount of time it takes for you to catch up with your friend

Answer 1

Let us say that:

d = distance of friend

d + 3 = your distance

so that:

d = 12 t

d + 3 = 18 t

Combining the 2 equations:

12 t = 18 t – 3

6 t = 3

t = 0.5 hours

Therefore you catch up after 0.5 hours or ½ hours.