Question

Two ships depart from a port at the same time, one heading south and the other east. Seven hours later, they are separated by a distance of 170 miles. If the ship going south travels 70 miles more than the other, how many miles does each vessel travel?

Answer 1

Answer: 80 miles for the first ship, and 150 miles for the other.

Explanation:

First thing we should do is correspond each number with a letter:

Let x be the distance travel by ship heading east

Let y be the distance travel by ship heading south

y = x + 70 -- (1)

sqrt(x^2 + y^2) = 170 -- (2)

Subtract (1) into (2):

sqrt(x^2 + (x + 70)^2) = 170

x^2 + x^2 + 140x + 4900 = 28900

2x^2 + 140x - 24000 = 0

x ^2 + 70x - 12000 = 0

(x - 80)(x + 150) = 0

x = 80 or -150

Since the distance for the first ship can’t be negative, therefore, x = 80 -- (3)

Subtract (3) into (1), therefore, y = 150

Hope this helps! :)