Question

Two vehicles are driving along a straight road at a constant speed. At a certain point in time, a car is 1.2 miles away from the welcome to fabulous Las Vegas landmark sign and is driving at 65 mph. A truck is 0.7 miles away from the same landmark and is driving at 55 mph.

What is the relative speed between the car and the truck?
a) 10 mph
b) 20 mph
c) 30 mph
d) 40 mph

Answer 1

correct answer is (a) 10 mph.

The relative speed between the car and the truck, both moving in the same direction, is 10 mph, calculated by subtracting the truck's speed from the car's speed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The relative speed between two objects moving in the same direction on a straight path is found by subtracting the speed of the slower object from the speed of the faster object

In this case, the car is moving at 65 mph and the truck is moving at 55 mph. Therefore, the relative speed between the car and the truck is:

Relative speed = speed of car - speed of truck

Relative speed = 65 mph - 55 mph

Relative speed = 10 mph

So, the correct answer is (a) 10 mph.

The relative speed is the rate at which the distance between the car and the truck is changing.

Since they are moving in the same direction, the relative speed is simply the difference in their speeds.