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3. A car and a truck were travelling in the same direction along the same road. The

car was travelling at a constant speed of 70 km/h and the truck was travelling at
a constant speed of 58 km/h. At 08:00, the truck was 20 km ahead of the car. Half
hour later, the truck broke down.
a) How far was the truck from the car when it broke down?
b) What time did the car pass the truck?​

1 Answer

7 votes

Take 8:00 to be the starting time, t = 0, and the car's starting position 20 km behind the truck to be the origin. Then the car's position at time t is

x = (70 km/h) t

and the truck's position is

x = 20 km + (58 km/h) t

(a) Right before the truck breaks down 0.5 h later, it will cover an additional distance of

(58 km/h) * (0.5 h) = 29 km

from its starting point, while the car will have covered a distance of

(70 km/h) * (0.5 h) = 35 km

from its starting point. So at 8:30, the truck is (20 km + 29 km) - 35 km = 14 km away from the car when it broke down.

(b) If neither vehicles stops, then the car passes the truck when their positions are equal, which would happen after

(70 km/h) t = 20 km + (58 km/h) t

(12 km/h) t = 20 km

t = (20 km) / (12 km/h)

t ≈ 1.7 h

But with the truck breaking down a 8:30, it is stuck 49 km away from the origin, so we need to find when the car travels this distance:

(70 km/h) t = 49 km

t = (49 km) / (70 km/h)

t = 0.7 h = 42 min

or at 8:42.

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