Problema Solution
a jet plane traveling at 550mph overtakes a propeller plane traveling at 200mph that had a 4-hour head start. how far from the starting point are the planes
Answer provided by our tutors
let
v1 = 500 mph the speed of the jet plane
t1 = the time of the travel of the jet plane until the meeting with the propeller plane
v2 = 200 mph the speed of the propeller plane
t2 = the time of the travel of the propeller plane until the meeting with the jet plane
since the propeller plane had 4-hours head start we have
t2 = t1 + 4
since distance = speed*time we have
v1*t1 = v2*t2
550t1 = 200t2 divide both sides by 100
5.5t1 = 2t2
by solving the system of equations
t2 = t1 + 4
5.5t1 = 2t2
we find
t1 = 8/3.5 hr
click here to see the step by step solution of the system of equations
the distance = v1*t1 = 550*(8/3.5) = 1,257.14 miles