Algebra 1 Word Problem for Time * Distance = Rate

Question

Sue and Lois live 13.5 km apart. At 10:00 each girl leaves her house and jogs toward the other. Sue jogs for 7.5 km and Lois jogs 6km. If the girls meet at 11:15 AM, how fast does each jog?

Answer 1

First of all, your title is wrong Time * Distance is NOT Rate.  Rate = Distance / Time, which is totally different.

 

They met at 11:15, so they were both jogging for 1 1/4 hour = 1.25 hour.

 

During that time Sue jogged 7.5 km, so her rate was 7.5 km / 1.25 hour = 6 km/hr.

 

Lois jogged 6 km, so her rate was 6 km / 1.25 hour = 4.8 km / hr.