Travel: At what time will Tyler catch up with Olivia?

[vonsmiley]

Can someone help me figure out how to set this up?

Olivia left Seattle at 1:46. Olivia drove her car at thirty-two mph. Tyler wanted to catch up with Olivia and left from where Olivia started at 3:09. Tyler traveled at a speed that was twenty mph more than Olivia did. At what time will Tyler catch up with Olivia?

 

[wjm11]

Re: Travel

Olivia left Seattle at 1:46. Olivia drove her car at thirty-two mph. Tyler wanted to catch up with Olivia and left from where Olivia started at 3:09. Tyler traveled at a speed that was twenty mph more than Olivia did. At what time will Tyler catch up with Olivia?

Olivia starts at 1:46 PM; Tyler starts at 3:09 PM – 1 hr and 23 mins later, or about 1.3833 hrs later.

Let t be the amount of time Olivia has driven in hours. Therefore, (t – 1.3833) is the amount of time Tyler has driven.

Olivia’s speed: v = 32
Tyler’s speed: v = 32 + 20

Since they are driving at constant speed, we use d = vt (distance = velocity x time).

Olivia: d = vt = 32*t
Tyler: d = v(t – 1.3833) = (32 + 20)*(t – 1.3833)

When Tyler catches Olivia, they have both traveled the same distance, so we can set these equations equal to one another. Then we can solve for time. Make sense?

Once you find t, remember to add it to Olivia's starting time.