bethany starts at the starting line while cal starts a half mile behind the starting line

Question

 calita runs 5 mph while beth runs 4mph so although cal starts behind beth she hopes to pass her at one point during the race let x represent the amount of time in hours that beth or cal run and let y represent distance after the starting line in miles write a linear equation in slope intercept form Part A: Beth's distance as a function of time y=. Part B cals distance as a function of time y=

Answer 1

Since Bethany starts at the starting line and runs at 4 mph, her distance from the starting line would be 4x.  So her distance equation is just y = 4x.

 

Calita runs at 5 mph, so her equation is going to look like y = 5x + b, where b is some number.  Since her distance is -1/2 when x = 0 (that's because she starts 1/2 mile BEHIND the starting line), you can see that:

 

-1/2 = 5*0 + b

-1/2 = b

 

So her equation is y = 5x - 1/2