Question

Janelle has 4 hours to spend training for an upcoming race. She completes her training by running full speed the distance of the race and walking back the same distance to cool down. If she runs at a speed of 7mph and walks back at a speed of 3mph how long should she plan to spend walking back?

Answer 1

If the amount of time taken to go said distance is x and the amount of time taken to go back said distance is y, then the amount of miles total is 7x+3y due to that for every hour, she adds 7 miles when going there and 3 miles for walking back. In addition, since the total amount of time is 4 hours, x+y=4 as the total time spent as well as 7x=3y due to that they're the same distance. 
x+y=4
7x=3y
Dividing the second equation by 7, we get x=3y/7. Plugging that into the first equation, we get 3y/7+y=4=10y/7 (since y=7y/7). Multiplying both sides by 7 and then dividing both by 10, we get 28/10=2.8=y in hours. Since 0.1 hours is 60/10=6 minutes, and 0.8/0.1=8, 6*8=48 minutes=0.8 hours, meaning that she should plan to spend 2 hours and 48 minutes walking back