Will and Grace are canoeing on a lake. Will rows at 50 meters per minute and Grace rows at 20 meters per minute. Will starts rowing at 2 p.m. from the west end of the lake, and Grace starts rowing from the east end of the lake at 2 p.m. If they always row directly towards each other, and the lake is 3800 meters across from the west side of the lake to the east side, at what time will the two meet?
Will and Grace are canoeing on a lake. Will rows at 50 meters per minute and Grace rows at 20 meters per minute. Will starts rowing at 2 p.m. from the west end of the lake, and Grace starts rowing from the east end of the lake at 2 p.m. If they always row directly towards each other, and the lake is 3800 meters across from the west side of the lake to the east side, at what time will the two meet?
Will's rate is 50 m/min.
Grace's rate is 20 m/min.
They're rowing toward each other,
so their rate of closure is 70 m/min.
The lake is 3800 meters across.
The time it will take them to meet is given by
Distance
T = –––––––
Rate
3800 m
T = –––––––
70 m/min
The time it takes them to meet T = 54.29 min
The time on the clock is 2:00 pm + 54.29 min = 2:54:17 pm
(The :17 is because 0.29 minute is 17 seconds.)