The Larimer County Food Bank Truck delivers the weekly food to McBackpacks in Fort Collins every Tuesday. It was agreed that the
truck should arrive exactly at 1:00 PM.
If the truck traveled at 40 mph it would arrive in Fort Collins at noon, an hour early.
If the truck traveled at 20 mph it would arrive at 2:00 PM, an hour late.
How far is the Food Bank from Fort Collins and how fast should it travel in order to arrive at 1:00 PM?
Solution to the Problem:
The Food Bank is 80 miles from Fort Collins and the truck would have to travel at 26.67 mph in order to arrive at 1:00 PM.Let x = number of hours for the truck to arrive at 1:00 PM.
Then set up a rate/time/distance table:
| Rate | Time | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early | 40 | x - 1 | 40 (x - 1) |
| Late | 20 | x + 1 | 20 (x + 1) |
Then 40x - 40 = 20x + 20
So, 20x = 60
x = 3 hours.
So the truck must travel 80 miles in 3 hours.
So the truck must travel 80 / 3 = 26.67 mph.
Click here to learn more about the McBackpack program in Fort Collins, Colorado
Correctly solved by:
| 1. Briggin Bluemel |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 2. James Alarie | Flint, Michigan |
| 3. Ivy Joseph | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| 4. Brijesh Dave | Mumbai City, Maharashtra, India |
| 5. Kelly Stubblefield | Mobile, Alabama |
| 6. Anna T. Vice |
Landon School, Bethesda, Maryland |
| 7. Emre Karabiyik |
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey |