jane leaves savanna on I-95 traveling north at an average speed of 39 miles per hour. two hours later, jake also leaves savannah

Question

jane leaves savanna on I-95 traveling north at an average speed of 39 miles per hour. two hours later, jake also leaves savannah traveling north on i-95, but at an average speed of 52 miles per hour. How long will it take jake to catch jane?

Answer 1

First, we need to figure out how far Jane traveled during the two hours that Jake was not travelling:

39mph * 2hr = 78mi

 

As such, the equation modelling her travel is y = 39x + 78.

 

The equation for Jake's travel is y = 52x.

 

We set the two equations equal to each other, and solve for x:

39x + 78 = 52x

78 = 13x

x = 6

 

It takes Jake 6 hours to catch Jane.