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seanspan
Feb 18, 2010, 04:14 PM
Two towns are 20km apart. A biker leaves from the first town at 20km/h and another biker leaves the second town at the same time travelling 15km/h. Where and when will they meet?

Im confused on how to set up and solve this question some help would be appreciated

Unknown008
Feb 19, 2010, 04:20 AM
Use your formulae.

Since they travel at constant speed, you can use:

Speed = \frac{Distance}{Time}

Since they meet at a fixed distance from town A and town B (I'll call them as such), the distance is not known. Let's call it 'x' being the distance from town A.
From A, the biker will travel x km
From B, the biker will travel (20-x) km.

This gives

20 = x/t
15 = (20-x)/t

Solve the simultaneous equation, the value for x gives you the distance from town A, and the time is the time passed between their departure and their meeting.

I hope it helped! :) Post your answer if you're not sure.