Question

Hector is competing in a 42 mile bicycle race. He has already completed 18 miles of the race and is traveling at constant speed of 12 miles per hour when Wanda starts the race. Wanda is traveling at a constant speed of 16 miles per hour. Write and solve an equation to find when Wanda will catch up to Hector.

Answer 1

alright so if hector is starting out with 42 miles in the beginning and has completed 18 miles already, he has 24 miles left to do. if he is traveling at 12 miles per hour then this equation will look like this ( H is for Hector
H = 12(2) because 12 x 2 = 24.
and if we look at wanda she is traveling 16 miles per hour ( the same per hour as hector and W is for Wanda )
so what we will do if Hector has 24 mile left is to divide 24 by 16 and that will give us 1.5
and if 1.5 x 16 = 24 then Wanda equation will be
W = 16(1.5)

solve in equation form:
W=16 * 1.5
W=24
remove parenthesis around 1.5 and multiply it by 16