Question

A pilot wants to arrive at her destination as soon as possible. Air traffic is busy, so she can take off 10 minutes later than expected and will be able to travel three times faster than expected if she waits. Create an equation to represent her total travel time, including wait time, where x is the number of minutes the flight was expected to take.

Answer 1

y = x/3 + 10

Explanation:

Let y be the number of minutes the flight takes

She can take off 10 minutes later than expected. She will be able to travel at a speed three times than expected.

Let her expected speed be s, therefore, she can travel at 3s.

x = number of minutes the flight was expected to take.

In terms of distance and speed:

x = d / s ______(1)

where d = total distance traveled

The time for the flight (minus waiting time) is now the division of the distance she traveled and her speed, i.e.:

t = d / 3s

From (1):

=> t = x / 3

The time she spent waiting is 10 minutes.

Therefore, the total time that the flight takes (plus waiting time) is:

y = t + 10

=> y = x/3 + 10