Distance Word Problems
Distance Word Problems
Distance Word Problems
"Distance" word problems, often also called "uniform rate" problems, involve something travelling at some fixed and steady ("uniform") pace ("rate" or "speed"), or else moving at some average speed. Whenever you read a problem that involves "how fast", "how far", or "for how long", you should think of the distance equation, d = rt, where d stands for distance, r stands for the (constant or average) rate of speed, and t stands for time. Warning: Make sure that the units for time and distance agree with the units for the rate. For instance, if they give you a rate of feet per second, then your time must be in seconds and your distance must be in feet. Sometimes they try to trick you by using the wrong units, and you have to catch this and convert to the correct units. A 555-mile, 5-hour plane trip was flown at two speeds. For the first part of the trip, the average speed was 105 mph. Then the tailwind picked up, and the remainder of the trip was flown at an average speed of 115 mph. For how long did the plane fly at each speed? First I'll set up a grid:
Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved
d d 555 d 555
t t 5t 5
rt", the first row gives me d = 105t and the second row gives me:
555 d = 115(5 t)
Since the two distances add up to 555, I'll add the two distance expressions, and set their sum equal to the given total:
You can add distances and you can add times, but you cannot add rates. Think about it: If you drive mph on one street, and 40 mph on another street, does that mean you averaged 60 mph?
20
As you can see, the actual math involved is often quite simple. It's the set-up that's the hard part. So what follows are some more examples, but with just the set-up displayed. An executive drove from home at an average speed of 30 mph to an airport where a helicopter was waiting. The executive boarded the helicopter and flew to the corporate offices at an average speed of 60 mph. The entire distance was 150 miles; the entire trip took three hours. Find the distance from the airport to the corporate offices.
d d 150 d 150
r 30 60 ---
t t 3t 3
The first row gives me the equation d = 30t. Since the first part of his trip accounted for d miles of the total 150-mile distance and t hours of the total 3-hour time, I am left with 150 d miles and 3 t hours for the second part. The second row gives me the equation:
150 d = 60(3 t)
Adding the two "distance" expressions and setting their sum equal to the given total distance, I get:
d d + 20 d ---
r 2r 30 r ---
t 2 2 ---
(As it turns out, I won't need the "total" row this time.) The first row gives me:
d + 20 = 2(2r 30)
This is not terribly helpful. The second row gives me:
d = 2r
Use the second equation to simplify the first equation by substituting "2r" in for "d", and then solve for "r". Interpret this value within the context of the exercise, and state the final answer. A passenger train leaves the train depot 2 hours after a freight train left the same depot. The freight train is traveling 20 mph slower than the passenger train. Find the rate of each train, if the passenger train overtakes the freight train in three hours.
d d d ---
r r r 20 ---
t 3 3+2=5 ---
(As it turns out, I won't need the "total" row this time.) Why is the distance just "d" for both trains? Partly, that's because the problem doesn't say how far the trains actually went. But mostly it's because they went the same distance as far as I'm concerned, because I'm only counting from the depot to wherever they met. After that meet, I don't care what happens. And how did I get those times? I know that the passenger train drove for three hours to catch up to the freight train; that's how I got the "3". But note that the freight train had a two-hour head start. That means that the freight train was going for five hours.
r r r 20 ---
Now that I have this information, I can try to find my equation. Using the fact that row gives me d = 3r (note the revised table above). The second row gives me:
d = 5(r 20)
Since the distances are equal, I will set the equations equal:
3r = 5(r 20)
Solve for r; interpret the value within the context of the exercise, and state the final answer.
Two cyclists start at the same time from opposite ends of a course that is 45 miles long. One cyclist is riding at 14 mph and the second cyclist is riding at 16 mph. How long after they begin will they meet?
d 45 d 45
14 16 ---
t t ---
Why is t the same for both cyclists? Because I am measuring from the time they both started to the time they meet somewhere in the middle. And how did I get "d" and "45 d" for the distances? Because once I'd assigned the slow guy as having covered d miles, that left 45 d miles for the fast guy to cover: the two guys together covered the whole 45 miles. Using "d = rt", I get d = 14t from the first row, and 45 d = 16t from the second row. Since these distances add up to 45, I will add the distance expressions and set equal to the given total:
45 = 14t + 16t
Solve for t. A boat travels for three hours with a current of 3 mph and then returns the same distance against the current in four hours. What is the boat's speed in calm water? How far did the boat travel one way?
d d d 2d
r b+3 b3 ---
t 3 4 7
(It may turn out that I won't need the "total" row.) I have used "b" to indicate the boat's speed. Why are the rates "b + 3" and "b 3"? Because I actually have two speeds combined into one on each trip. The boat has a certain speed (the "speed in calm water" that I'm looking for; this is the speed that registers on the speedometer), and the water has a certain speed (this is the "current"). When the boat is going with the current, the water's speed is added to the boat's speed. This makes sense, if you think about it: even if you cut the engine, the boat would still be moving, because the water would be carrying it downstream. When the boat is going against the current, the water's speed is subtracted from the boat's speed. This makes sense, too: if the water is going fast enough, the boat will still be going downstream (a "negative" speed, because the boat would be going backwards at this point), because the water is more powerful than the boat. (Think of a boat in a cartoon heading toward a waterfall. The guy paddles like crazy, but he still goes over the edge.)
d d = 3(b + 3) d = 4(b 3) 2d
r b+3 b3 ---
t 3 4 7
rt", the first row (of the revised table above) gives me:
d = 3(b + 3)
The second row gives me:
d = 4(b 3)
Since these distances are the same, I will set them equal:
3(b + 3) = 4(b 3)
Solve for b. Then back-solve for d. In this case, I didn't need the "total" row. With the wind, an airplane travels 1120 miles in seven hours. Against the wind, it takes eight hours. Find the rate of the plane in still air and the velocity of the wind.
r p+w pw ---
t 7 8 15
(I probably won't need the "total" row.) Just as with the last problem, I am really dealing with two rates together: the plane's speedometer reading, and the wind speed. When the plane turns around, the wind is no longer pushing the plane to go faster, but is instead pushing against the plane to slow it down. Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved The first row gives me:
1120 = 7(p + w)
The second row gives me:
1120 = 8(p w)
The temptation is to just set these equal, like I did with the last problem, but that just gives me:
7(p + w) = 8(p w)
...which doesn't help much. I need to get rid of one of the variables. I'll take that first equation:
1120 = 7(p + w)
...and divide through by 7:
160 = p + w
Then, subtracting w from either side, I get that p second equation:
t t t6 6
However long the sound took to travel through the air, it took six seconds less to propagate through the steel. (Since the speed through the steel is faster, then that travel-time must be shorter.) I multiply the rate by the time to get the values for the distance column. (Once again, I didn't need the "total" row.) Since the distances are the same, I set the distance expressions equal to get:
1100t = 16,500(t 6)
Solve for the time t, and then back-solve for the distance d by plugging t into either expression for the distance d.