Question

In a relay race, each runner completes the circuit 9 seconds faster than the previous one. If the first athlete runs his lap in 4 minutes 37 seconds, how many minutes does it take in total for the team of 8 competitors to finish the race? Give your answer correct to the nearest minute. [Answer format: integer, no units]

Answer 1

Answer:

31 minutes

Step-by-step explanation:

Here, we have 8 competitors with the previous runner outrunning the present by 9 seconds

1st runner time = 4 minutes 37 seconds

2nd runner time = 4 minutes 37 seconds - 9 seconds = 4 minutes 28 seconds

3rd runner time = 4 minutes 28 seconds - 9 seconds = 4 minutes 19 seconds

4th runner time = 4 minutes 19 seconds - 9 seconds = 4 minutes 10 seconds

5th runner time = 4 minutes 10 seconds - 9 seconds = 4 minutes 1 second

6th runner time s= 4 minutes 1 second - 9 seconds = 3 minutes 52 seconds

7th runner time = 3 minutes 52 seconds - 9 seconds = 3 minutes 43 seconds

8th runner time = 3 minutes 43 seconds - 9 seconds = 3 minutes 34 seconds

The total time is the addition of all the times

For clarity sake, we shall be adding all the minutes together and all the seconds together;

That will be ;

(4 * 6) + 3 minutes + ( 34 + 43 + 52 + 1 + 10 + 19 + 28 + 37)

= 27 minutes + 224 seconds

We need to convert 224 seconds to minutes

Since 60 seconds make one minute; we have

224 - 60(3) = 3 minutes and 44 seconds

Let’s add this to the minutes we had before

That would be;

27 minutes + 3 minutes + 44 seconds

= 30 minutes 44 seconds

since 44 seconds is greater than 1/2 minute (30 seconds), we can approximate it to 1 minute

So the total time is 30 minutes + 1 minute = 31 minutes