The jogger has already burned 225 calories and is burning at a rate of 250 ph. The walker had burned 275 calories but at a rate of 200 ph

Question

How many hours will it take them to burn the same amount of calories? Please just translate it into an equation... I can solve from there.

Answer 1

Let's make each an equation. The variables:

 

x = number of hours

y = total number of calories burned

 

The jogger's equation: y = 225 + 250x

The walker's equation: y = 275 + 200x

 

The number already burned is a constant (just a number, like 225). The number burned per hour is a rate. Every hour, some number of calories is burned (like 250). Therefore, the total number of calories burned, after x hours, is say 250x.

 

In algebra, wherever you have a symbol (like y), you can substitute something that symbol is equal to. Thus, you can set the right sides of the two equations equal to each other, since both have been set equal to y. Therefore, your final equation, which you will solve for x (the number of hours), is:

 

225 + 250x = 275 + 200x