Solving for rate or time

The Problem Your friend shows up at your doorstep at 2 a.m. with baggage in hand. He left Boston, 1,200 miles away, at 6 a.m. yesterday morning. How fast was he traveling (what was his average rate of speed)  

Solve for the rate using r = y. Determine how many hours there are between 

and 2 a.m. the next day and divide the distance by that number of hours. The easiest way to figure the number of hours is to just say that the amount of time was 4 hours short of a whole day. Subtract 4 from 24, and you get that he 

Find the two different times and add them together. The time that the lady-bug spent on the tortoise is found by dividing 0.2 mile by 3 feet per minute. 

Of course, first, the miles have to be changed to feet. Then find the amount of time on the hare by dividing 0.3 mile by 50 feet per minute. Add the two times together. 

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The main element of the distance = rate x time problems is the distance. You solve for rate or time when given the distance or given the fact that the distances traveled by the participants are equal. Just as important is finding out just how far people have traveled. 

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