Two Trains left a station at the same time. One traveled north at a certain speed and the other traveled south at twice that speed. After 4 hours, the trains were 600 miles apart. How fast was each train traveling? Write an equation to solve.

Respuesta :

Let s = northbound train
Then
2s = southbound train
:
Distance = time * speed
4s + 4(2s) = 600
:
4s + 8s = 600
:
12s = 600
:
s = 600/12
:
s = 50 mph is the northbound train
Then
2(50) = 100 mph is the southbound train
:
:
Check:
4(50) + 4(100) = 600

The speed is the distance covered by an object at a particular time. The speed of Northbound and southbound train is 50 miles per hour and 100 miles per hour.

What is speed?

The speed is the distance covered by an object at a particular time. Therefore, it is the ratio of distance and time.

Speed = Distance × Time

Given that two trains left a station at the same time. Therefore, the initial distance between the two trains at the beginning will be 0.

Now, let the speed of the train moving toward the north be represented by x. Then, the speed of the train moving towards the south will be 2x. Therefore, the distance traveled by the two trains in 4 hour will be,

Distance traveled by Northbound train = speed × Time

                                                                 = x × 4

                                                                 = 4x

Distance traveled by Southbound train = speed × Time

                                                                 = 2x × 4

                                                                 = 8x

Further, the distance between the two trains after 4 hours is 600 miles, therefore, the distance between the two trains together can be written as,

Distance between two trains = Distance traveled by Northbound train + Distance traveled by Southbound train

600 miles = 4x + 8x

600 miles = 12x

x = 600/12

x = 50 miles per hour

Furthermore, the speed of each train will be,

Speed of Northbound train = x = 50 miles per hour

Speed of Southbound train = 2x = 2(50) = 100 miles per hour

Hence, the speed of Northbound and southbound train is 50 miles per hour and 100 miles per hour.

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