Final answer:
Your classmate should bicycle for 28 minutes at 11 mph and 32 minutes at 15 mph in a 60-minute session to burn a total of 600 calories.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate how long your classmate should bicycle at each speed to burn 600 calories, we can set up a system of equations based on the given information. Let's define x as the time in minutes spent bicycling at 11 mph and y as the time in minutes spent bicycling at 15 mph. The total time bicycling should be 60 minutes:
Next, we know the calorie burn rates for each speed, so we can set up another equation to represent the total calories burned:
Solving this system of equations will give us the time spent at each speed:
- Isolate one of the variables in the first equation. For instance, y = 60 - x.
- Substitute this expression for y into the second equation: 8x + 11.75(60 - x) = 600.
- Simplify and solve for x: 8x + 705 - 11.75x = 600, which simplifies to -3.75x = -105, and dividing both sides by -3.75 gives x = 28.
- Substitute x back into y = 60 - x: y = 60 - 28, so y = 32.
Therefore, your classmate should bicycle 28 minutes at 11 mph and 32 minutes at 15 mph to burn 600 calories.