Question

A policeman goes after a thief who has 100 meters start. If the policeman runs a kilometer in 8 minutes, and the thief a kilometer in 10 minutes, how far will the thief have gone before he is overtaken?

Answer 1

A policeman goes after a thief who has 100 meters start. If the policeman runs a kilometer in 8 minutes, and the thief a kilometer in 10 minutes, how far will the thief have gone before he is overtaken?

To find : distance before thief is overtaken

solution : speed of policeman = 100/8 = 12.5 m/min

speed of thief = 100/10 = 10 m /min

Now let the distance covered by the thief be x mts

since the policeman catches the thief after a certain distance x

According to the question,

(100+x)/12.5 = x/10

10 (100+x) = 12.5x

1000 + 10x = 12.5 x

1000 = 2.5 x

x = 400 mts.