Question

An ambulance travels at 40 mph and can follow a 20-mile route making no stops to get to the hospital. A helicopter travels at one mile per minute, and the air route is 15 miles to get to the same hospital. However, the helicopter takes three minutes for takeoff and three minutes for landing. How many fewer minutes does it take for the helicopter to complete its trip (takeoff, flight and landing) than for the ambulance to complete its trip

Answer 1

9

Explanation:

The time required by the ambulance is ...

time = distance/speed

time = (20 mi)/(40 mi/h) = 1/2 h = 30 minutes

The time required by the helicopter is ...

trip time = takeoff time + route time + landing time

= (3 min) + (15 mi)/(1 mi/min) +(3 min) = (3 + 15 + 3) min = 21 min

The difference in times is ...

(30 min) -(21 min) = 9 min

The helicopter takes 9 fewer minutes for the trip.