A person taking a trip drives an average speed of 60 mph for part of the trip

Question

A person taking a trip drives an average speed of 60 mph for part of the trip and 50 mph for the rest of the trip. the trip takes a total of 5.9 hours and distance travelled is 337 miles. Find the number of hours driven for each leg of the trip

Answer 1

x + y = 5.9   this is for the hours

60x + 50y = 337  this is for the distance

 

I'll mupltiply the top equation by 50 and subtract from the bottom.

 

10x = 42

x = 4.2

 

The person travels for 4.2 hours at 60 mph and for 1.7 hours at 50 mph.