Question

Two planes leave an airport at noon. If the eastbound plane flies at 560 mph and the westbound plane flies at 500 mph, at what time will they be 2,000 miles apart? Round your answer to the nearest minute.

Answer 1

Your problem is an example of a distance problem, so you muct know the formula to find the distance. To find the distance we simply multiply the rate by the time, or as you'll see more often, d = r t. That means to calculate distance traveled you need rate and time.

Take note, planes are traveling in opposite direction, which means 2000 miles will be the sum of the distances that the two planes have traveled.

D (Plane 1) + D(Plane 2). = 2000

Let t = time in minutes

560t + 500t = 2000

Solve for t. Take it ftom here.