Two skaters, Jennie and Maude, stood a mile apart on a frozen lake, then each skated directly to the spot where the other had been standing.   With the help of a strong wind, Jennie performed the feat two and one-half times faster than Maude and beat her by six minutes.

How long did it take each girl to skate the mile?



Solution to the Problem:


Maude skated the mile in 10 minutes and Jennie skated the mile in 4 minutes.

Let x = rate of Maude.
Then 2.5x = rate of Jennie.

So, Maude skated the mile in 1/x minutes
Jennie skated the mile in 1/2.5x minutes.

We can write the equation:
1/x - 1/(2.5x) = 6
Solving, we get 10x = 1,
so x = 1/10 mile per minute for Maude's rate.
Therefore, Jennie skated in 1/4 mile per minute.


Correctly solved by:

1. Colin (Yowie) Bowey Beechworth, Victoria, Australia
2. Davit Banana Istanbul, Turkey
3. Shekhar Gosavi College of Engineering,
Pune, Maharashtra, India
4. Aayan Shah Lalitpur City, Nepal
5. Brijesh Dave Mumbai City, Maharashtra, India
6. Dr. Hari Kishan D.N. College,
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India