Two cars pass each other traveling in opposite directions. One car is going and one half times as fast as the other car. At the end of 4 and one half hours, they are 405 miles apart. Find each car's rate.
+23251 Using the formula: d = r · t:
Let the rate of the slower car be x
Then the rate of the faster car is 1.5x
Since each car travels for 4.5 hours:
the distance that the slower car travelled is 4.5 · x
the distance that the faster car travelled is 4.5 · 1.5 x = 6.75x
The total distance that they travelled was 405 miles:
4.5x + 6.75x = 405
11.25x = 405
x = 405 / 11.25 = 36
Therefore, the slower car travelled at the rate of 36 miles per hour
and the faster car travelled at the rate of 1.5 · 36 = 54 miles per hour.
