Question

At 2 PM, two cars leave Eagle River one headed east one headed west if the car traveling east averages 55 mph in the car traveling west averages 40 mph when will the cars be 237 miles apart

Answer 1

Explanation:

since the speeds are specified in miles per HOUR, we pick as variable

x = hours travelled (both cars travel the same amount of hours, as they started at the same time)

speed × time interval = distance

because

speed = distance / time interval

and

(distance / time interval) × time interval = distance

so,

55x + 40x = 237

95x = 237

x = 237/95 = 2.494736842... hours

that is 2 full hours and some minutes. as every hour has 60 minutes, we get the number of minutes by multiplying the fractional part of the hours by 60 :

0.494736842... × 60 = 29.68421053... ≈ 30 minutes

therefore both cars have traveled about 2 hours and 30 minutes when they are 237 miles apart.

the time is then

2 pm + 2 hours 30 minutes = 4:30 pm