3.5E: Exercises
- Page ID
- 30385
Practice Makes Perfect
Solve Uniform Motion Applications
In the following exercises, solve.
Lilah is moving from Portland to Seattle. It takes her three hours to go by train. Mason leaves the train station in Portland and drives to the train station in Seattle with all Lilah’s boxes in his car. It takes him 2.4 hours to get to Seattle, driving at 15 miles per hour faster than the speed of the train. Find Mason’s speed and the speed of the train.
- Answer
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Mason 75 mph, train 60 mph
Kathy and Cheryl are walking in a fundraiser. Kathy completes the course in 4.8 hours and Cheryl completes the course in 8 hours. Kathy walks two miles per hour faster than Cheryl. Find Kathy’s speed and Cheryl’s speed.
Two busses go from Sacramento for San Diego. The express bus makes the trip in 6.8 hours and the local bus takes 10.2 hours for the trip. The speed of the express bus is 25 mph faster than the speed of the local bus. Find the speed of both busses.
- Answer
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express bus 75mph, local 50 mph
A commercial jet and a private airplane fly from Denver to Phoenix. It takes the commercial jet 1.1 hours for the flight, and it takes the private airplane 1.8 hours. The speed of the commercial jet is 210 miles per hour faster than the speed of the private airplane. Find the speed of both airplanes.
Saul drove his truck 3 hours from Dallas towards Kansas City and stopped at a truck stop to get dinner. At the truck stop he met Erwin, who had driven 4 hours from Kansas City towards Dallas. The distance between Dallas and Kansas City is 542 miles, and Erwin’s speed was eight miles per hour slower than Saul’s speed. Find the speed of the two truckers.
- Answer
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Saul 82 mph, Erwin 74 mph
Charlie and Violet met for lunch at a restaurant between Memphis and New Orleans. Charlie had left Memphis and drove 4.8 hours towards New Orleans. Violet had left New Orleans and drove 2 hours towards Memphis, at a speed 10 miles per hour faster than Charlie’s speed. The distance between Memphis and New Orleans is 394 miles. Find the speed of the two drivers.
Sisters Helen and Anne live 332 miles apart. For Thanksgiving, they met at their other sister’s house partway between their homes. Helen drove 3.2 hours and Anne drove 2.8 hours. Helen’s average speed was four miles per hour faster than Anne’s. Find Helen’s average speed and Anne’s average speed.
- Answer
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Helen 60 mph, Anne 56 mph
Ethan and Leo start riding their bikes at the opposite ends of a 65-mile bike path. After Ethan has ridden 1.5 hours and Leo has ridden 2 hours, they meet on the path. Ethan’s speed is six miles per hour faster than Leo’s speed. Find the speed of the two bikers.
Elvira and Aletheia live 3.1 miles apart on the same street. They are in a study group that meets at a coffee shop between their houses. It took Elvira half an hour and Aletheia two-thirds of an hour to walk to the coffee shop. Aletheia’s speed is 0.6 miles per hour slower than Elvira’s speed. Find both women’s walking speeds.
- Answer
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Aletheia 2.4 mph, Elvira 3 mph
DaMarcus and Fabian live 23 miles apart and play soccer at a park between their homes. DaMarcus rode his bike for three-quarters of an hour and Fabian rode his bike for half an hour to get to the park. Fabian’s speed was six miles per hour faster than DaMarcus’ speed. Find the speed of both soccer players.
Cindy and Richard leave their dorm in Charleston at the same time. Cindy rides her bicycle north at a speed of 18 miles per hour. Richard rides his bicycle south at a speed of 14 miles per hour. How long will it take them to be 96 miles apart?
- Answer
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3 hours
Matt and Chris leave their uncle’s house in Phoenix at the same time. Matt drives west on I-60 at a speed of 76 miles per hour. Chris drives east on I-60 at a speed of 82 miles per hour. How many hours will it take them to be 632 miles apart?
Two busses leave Billings at the same time. The Seattle bus heads west on I-90 at a speed of 73 miles per hour while the Chicago bus heads east at a speed of 79 miles an hour. How many hours will it take them to be 532 miles apart?
- Answer
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3.5 hours
Two boats leave the same dock in Cairo at the same time. One heads north on the Mississippi River while the other heads south. The northbound boat travels four miles per hour. The southbound boat goes eight miles per hour. How long will it take them to be 54 miles apart?
Lorena walks the path around the park in 30 minutes. If she jogs, it takes her 20 minutes. Her jogging speed is 1.5 miles per hour faster than her walking speed. Find Lorena’s walking speed and jogging speed.
- Answer
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walking 3 mph, jogging 4.5 mph
Julian rides his bike uphill for 45 minutes, then turns around and rides back downhill. It takes him 15 minutes to get back to where he started. His uphill speed is 3.2 miles per hour slower than his downhill speed. Find Julian’s uphill and downhill speed.
Cassius drives his boat upstream for 45 minutes. It takes him 30 minutes to return downstream. His speed going upstream is three miles per hour slower than his speed going downstream. Find his upstream and downstream speeds.
- Answer
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upstream 6 mph, downstream 9 mph
It takes Darline 20 minutes to drive to work in light traffic. To come home, when there is heavy traffic, it takes her 36 minutes. Her speed in light traffic is 24 miles per hour faster than her speed in heavy traffic. Find her speed in light traffic and in heavy traffic.
At 1:30 Marlon left his house to go to the beach, a distance of 7.6 miles. He rode his skateboard until 2:15, then walked the rest of the way. He arrived at the beach at 3:00. Marlon’s speed on his skateboard is 2.5 times his walking speed. Find his speed when skateboarding and when walking.
- Answer
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skateboarding 8 mph, walking 3.2 mph
Aaron left at 9:15 to drive to his mountain cabin 108 miles away. He drove on the freeway until 10:45, and then he drove on the mountain road. He arrived at 11:05. His speed on the freeway was three times his speed on the mountain road. Find Aaron’s speed on the freeway and on the mountain road.
Marisol left Los Angeles at 2:30 to drive to Santa Barbara, a distance of 95 miles. The traffic was heavy until 3:20. She drove the rest of the way in very light traffic and arrived at 4:20. Her speed in heavy traffic was 40 miles per hour slower than her speed in light traffic. Find her speed in heavy traffic and in light traffic.
- Answer
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heavy traffic 30 mph, light traffic 70 mph
Lizette is training for a marathon. At 7:00 she left her house and ran until 8:15, then she walked until 11:15. She covered a total distance of 19 miles. Her running speed was five miles per hour faster than her walking speed. Find her running and walking speeds.
Everyday Math
John left his house in Irvine at 8:35 am to drive to a meeting in Los Angeles, 45 miles away. He arrived at the meeting at 9:50. At 3:30 pm, he left the meeting and drove home. He arrived home at 5:18.
- What was his average speed on the drive from Irvine to Los Angeles?
- What was his average speed on the drive from Los Angeles to Irvine?
- What was the total time he spent driving to and from this meeting?
- John drove a total of 90 miles roundtrip. Find his average speed. (Round to the nearest tenth.)
- Answer
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- 36 mph
- 25 mph
- 3.05 hours
- 29.5 mph
Sarah wants to arrive at her friend’s wedding at 3:00. The distance from Sarah’s house to the wedding is 95 miles. Based on usual traffic patterns, Sarah predicts she can drive the first 15 miles at 60 miles per hour, the next 10 miles at 30 miles per hour, and the remainder of the drive at 70 miles per hour.
- How long will it take Sarah to drive the first 15 miles?
- How long will it take Sarah to drive the next 10 miles?
- How long will it take Sarah to drive the rest of the trip?
- What time should Sarah leave her house?
Writing Exercises
When solving a uniform motion problem, how does drawing a diagram of the situation help you?
- Answer
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Answers will vary.
When solving a uniform motion problem, how does creating a table help you?
Self Check
ⓐ After completing the exercises, use this checklist to evaluate your mastery of the objectives of this section.
ⓑ What does this checklist tell you about your mastery of this section? What steps will you take to improve?