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your classmate is starting a new fitness program. he is planning to ride his bicycle 60 minutes every day. he burns 8 calories per minute bicycling at 11 mph and 11.75 calories per minute bicycling at 15 mph. how long should he bicycle at each speed to burn 600 calories per

User Chan Le
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1 Answer

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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:

  • x + y = 60

Next, we know the calorie burn rates for each speed, so we can set up another equation to represent the total calories burned:

  • 8x + 11.75y = 600

Solving this system of equations will give us the time spent at each speed:

  1. Isolate one of the variables in the first equation. For instance, y = 60 - x.
  2. Substitute this expression for y into the second equation: 8x + 11.75(60 - x) = 600.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

User Rob Fagen
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