Question

Places A and B are 30 km apart and they are on a straight road. Hamid travels from A to B on bike. At the same time Joseph starts from B on bike, travels towards A. They meet each other after 20 minutes. If Joseph would have started from B at the same time but in the opposite direction (instead of towards A) Hamid would have caught him after 3 hours. Find the speed of Hamid and Joseph. Solve the word problem

Answer 1

Hi ,

Distance between A and B = 30km

Let the speed of Hamid = x kmph

speed of Joseph = y kmph

i ) Relative speed of them when they

are traveling

in opposite direction = ( x + y )kmph

time taken to meet

each other = d/relative speed

20mi = 30/( x + y )

(20/60 ) hr = 30/( x + y )

1/3 = 30/( x + y )

x + y = 90 ---( 1 )

ii ) Relative speed if they travel in the

same direction = ( x - y ) kmph

time = d/( relative speed )

3 = 30/( x - y)

x - y = 10 ---( 2 )

add equations ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) , we get

2x = 100

x = 50

put x = 50 in equation ( 1 ) , we get

50 + y = 90

y = 40

Therefore ,

Speed of Hamid = x = 50kmph

Speed of Joseph = y = 40 kmph

I hope this helps you.

: )