I'm having trouble putting an equation together for this question. Please help me!

Question

The round school track is 0.25 miles long as measured by the inner edge. If the track itself is 6 feet wide, how much farther does the outside person run than the person on the inside, if both runners start and stop at the same place on the track? 

Answer 1

Hi Erika--

 

You need to figure out a few things, starting with the radius of the inner circle. If its circumference is .25, you can divide that by Pi to get the diameter, and take half of that for the radius.

 

Add 6 feet to that to get the radius of the larger circle, and use that to calculate the circumference of that larger circle.

 

Subtract the .25 from that larger circumference, and you'll have the answer!

 

Hope this helps!

 

Matt in NY