Question

Two planes leave Miami at the same time, one traveling east and one traveling west. The east bound plane travels at 400 miles an hour. The west bound plane travels at 300 miles an hour.
• After how much time will the planes be 2450 miles apart?

Answer 1

The essence of this problem is to try and develop a model for this scenario. Perhaps a diagram will help you.



You have to find how much time it takes until the two planes are 2450 miles apart.
The rate for each plane is 400 miles/hour and 300 miles/hour, so you if you multiply the hours, you will get the miles.
Now, would you add the two miles or subtract? You would add them because the distance increases as they fly away in opposite directions.
Hence, you would come up with this expression:

\(300h+400h = 2450\)
now you can solve for h, hours.