75.5k views
4 votes
The speed of a passenger train is 10 mph faster than the speed of a freight train. The passenger train travels 310 miles in the same time it takes the freight train to travel 260 miles. Find the speed of each train.

User WordCent
by
7.8k points

1 Answer

1 vote

Let's use the following variables to represent the speed of each train:

Let x be the speed of the freight train in miles per hour (mph).

Since the passenger train is 10 mph faster, its speed is x + 10 mph.

We know that the time it takes for each train to travel their respective distances is the same, so we can set up the following equation:

310 / (x + 10) = 260 / x

To solve for x, we can cross-multiply and simplify:

310x = 260(x + 10)

310x = 260x + 2600

50x = 2600

x = 52

Therefore, the speed of the freight train is 52 mph. To find the speed of the passenger train, we can plug in x = 52 and add 10:

x + 10 = 52 + 10 = 62

So the speed of the passenger train is 62 mph.

User Gerrit
by
7.0k points