Question

Alexandra and Chi compete in an Olympic-type triathlon consisting of a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bicycle ride, and a 10 km run. There are two transitions in the race where the participants take time to change from one mode of the race to another. Their times from the race are shown below. How long does it take Alexandra to complete the triathlon? Write and solve a linear equation to model the total time. How long does it take Chi to complete the triathlon if she also gets a flat tire that takes 10 minutes to fix? Write and solve a linear equation to model the total time. Who won the race? How did Chi's flat tire affect the outcome? Would the outcome have been different if it took 20 minutes for Chi to fix the flat tire? Explain.

Answer 1

Alexandra takes approximately 0.859 hours to complete the triathlon, while Chi takes around 1.026 hours. Chi's flat tire adds an additional 0.167 hours to her total time, affecting the outcome of the race. The outcome would have been different if it took 20 minutes (0.333 hours) for Chi to fix the flat tire.

Step-by-step explanation:

Alexandra:

Swim: 1.5 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.025 hours

Bike: 40 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.667 hours

Run: 10 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.167 hours

Total time for Alexandra: 0.025 + 0.667 + 0.167 = 0.859 hours

Chi:

Swim: 1.5 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.025 hours

Bike: 40 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.667 hours

Run: 10 km x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.167 hours

Flat Tire: 10 minutes x (1 hour/60 minutes) = 0.167 hours

Total time for Chi: 0.025 + 0.667 + 0.167 + 0.167 = 1.026 hours

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