Question

PLEASE HELP WITH DISTANCE WORD PROBLEM :(

Horace leaves the house at 5:00 P.M. at a rate of 8 miles per hour to travel to Carlton's house which was 35 miles down the road. Horace took Jed's wallet instead of his own so Jed had to go after him. Jed left at 7:00 P.M. at 20 miles per hour with the same distance. At what time will Jed reach Horace, how long will Horace have driven by then, and when will Jed return back from the farm?

Answer 1

the best way to see this is if you graph this... make one line have a slope of 8 and start at (5,0) and the next have a slope of 20 and start at (7,0)

Answer 2

well, i have to make a double line graph with it and i have to be specific about the time and such so do you know how to solve it?

Answer 3

do you know how to create formulas from the word problem?

Answer 4

not exactly.

Answer 5

look at it this way... we will y rep the distance and the x rep. the time ok?

Answer 6

mhmm.

Answer 7

we will look at horace first at exactly 5 he traveled 0 miles, agree?

Answer 8

yup.

Answer 9

now remember that we are letting y rep the distance and the x rep. the time, this this case what is x and what is y?

Answer 10

x is time and y is distance . i get that but how do we find the answer?

Answer 11

you create a formula.... the rate of change (slope) for H is 8 and for J is 20

Answer 12

H is y=8x-40 and J is y=20x-140

Answer 13

well, instead of starting with a graph, can you help me find the time where they eventually meet using d=rt?

Answer 14

check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFPBgP0PoQk&feature=related i gave you the formulas

Answer 15

so what would be the answer?

Answer 16

set both execution = to each other... 8x-40=20x-140 now solve for x
then use the result for x in one of the 2 original formulas to get y

Answer 17

i get x= 8.3 and y=26.6

Answer 18

they meet around 8:20 at 26.6 miles