Two groups of hiker start at the same time and hike at the same speed mark hikes for 2.5 hour Sally hikes for 4.7 hours and covers up another 7.7 miles

Question

word problem figure out how to find how fast they are going 

Answer 1

Since they are hiking at the same speed you can solve for how fast one is hiking and you have solved for both. Since speed is distance over time, and we are given the distance traveled in the time when only one hiker was hiking (we know this from the use of the word 'another' 7.7 miles) we will find a value for that time by subtraction.

 

4.7-2.5=2.2

 

This gives the time that Sally was hiking after Mark stopped. Divide the distance she covered in that time by the time it took her and you get;

 

7.7/2.2=speed of 3.5 mph

 

The final step with any word problem is to stop and ask yourself if the answer makes sense. You may not be familiar with average hiking speeds but you can say whether the speed would be more appropriate to a car. This one seems reasonable, so you're done.