Question

Maria left the hardware store and traveled toward the train station at an average speed of 20 mph. Joe left sometime later traveling in the same direction at an average speed of 50 mph. After traveling for two hours Joe caught up with Maria. How long did Maria travel before Joe caught up?

A) 2 hours
B) 3 hours
C) 4 hours
D) 5 hours

Answer 1

Maria traveled for 5 hours before Joe caught up.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how long Maria traveled before Joe caught up, we need to calculate the distance Maria traveled and the time it took Joe to catch up. We can use the formula distance = speed x time.

Maria traveled at an average speed of 20 mph for a certain amount of time, which we need to find. Let's call that time 't'. So the distance Maria traveled is 20t.

Joe caught up to Maria after traveling for 2 hours at an average speed of 50 mph. The distance Joe traveled is 50 x 2 = 100 miles.

Since Joe caught up with Maria, it means that the distances they traveled are equal. Therefore, we can set up the equation 20t = 100 and solve for 't'.

Dividing both sides of the equation by 20, we get t = 5. So Maria traveled for 5 hours before Joe caught up.