can someone please help me with this problem?

Question by bobbie sueyy: can someone please help me with this problem?
Mike and Adam left a bus terminal at the same time and traveled in opposite directions. Mike’s bus was in heavy traffic and had to travel 20mi/h slower than Adam’s bus.. After 3 hours thier buses were 270 miles apart. How fast was each bus going?…..please help me…i dont know where to start…and tell me steps to do asap….thnx…= )

Best answer:

Answer by Zoe – Little Linguist
Mike’s bus was traveling 20mph slower than Adam’s bus for 3 hours. So you know the difference is 20 x 3.

Subtract that from the total distance, 270.

Divide what remains by 2.

20 x 3 = 60
270 – 60 = 210
210/2 = 105

Mike’s bus had gone 105 miles, and Adam’s had gone 60 miles farther, that is, 165 miles.

Divide each number by 3 to get the mph.

Give your answer to this question below!

Comments (1)

  1. Chippy v1.0.0.3b says:

    ok

    t – is time.
    d – is distance.
    x – is speed.
    - adams speed is x
    - mikes speed is x – 20

    d = xt + (x-20)t

    and you know that t (time) is 3 hours.
    and you also know that d (distance) is 270 miles.
    so what you get is:

    270 = x3 + x3 – 20(3)
    270 = 3x + 3x – 60
    330 = 6x
    55 = x

    x – 20 = 35

    so adam was traveling 55 mph
    and mike was traveling 35 mph

    edit: as you can tell there are multiple ways to get to an answer.