At 0900,a car left Town A and travelled towards Town B At an AVERAGE speed of 70km/h. At the same time, a lorry left Town B and travelled towards Town A at an AVERAGE speed of 55km/h. At 1100,the two vehicles were 35km apart. If the two vehicles had already passed each other before 1100,find the distance between the two towns.
While the car and lorry are driving towards each other, the distance between them decreases by 70+55 = 125 km/h.
While the car and lorry are driving away from each other, the distance between them increases by 125 km/h.
They meet after x hours, x < 2. The car has traveled 70x km and the lorry has traveled 55x km.
After another 2-x hours, the car has traveled an additional (2-x)70 km and the lorry has traveled an additional (2-x)55 km.
(2-x)70 + (2-x)55 = 35
140-70x + 110-55x = 35
215 = 125x
x = 215/125 hours
The car and lorry met after 215/125 hours.
215/125 hours × (125 km)/hour = 215 km
The distance between towns is 215 km.