• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

School Certificate Maths Question (2 Viewers)

mc1007

New Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
29
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Could someone please show me how to do this. I could guess the answer but I have no idea how to do it if I got another question similar:

72. Two Cars are travelling towards each other at 60 km/h and 80 km/h. How far apart are they 15 min before they pass each other

a) 5km
b) 9 1/3 km
c) 20 km
d) 35 km
 

Schoey93

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
988
Location
Western Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Could someone please show me how to do this. I could guess the answer but I have no idea how to do it if I got another question similar:

72. Two Cars are travelling towards each other at 60 km/h and 80 km/h. How far apart are they 15 min before they pass each other

a) 5km
b) 9 1/3 km
c) 20 km
d) 35 km
Let the cars be A and B.
Let the amount of kilometres Car A (the slow car) is from Car B (the fast car) be x.

When Car A reaches Car B, x = 0.
When Car A is 15 km from Car B, naturally x = 15.
Total distance travelled 60 x 80 = 480 km (that's a multiplication sign, not a letter).
Divide 480 by 24 (because it took Car B 6 hours to make the trip and there are 4 lots of 6 hours in a day (6 x 4 = 24) ).
480/24 = 20 km

Therefore the cars are 20 km apart 15 min before they pass each other.

PS: There may be a flaw in my working; sorry. But hey, it got the right answer, didn't it? :)
You could probably graph an equation as an alternative method of solving this problem...
 
Last edited:

annabackwards

<3 Prophet 9
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
4,670
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
The car travelling at 60km/hr would be 15km (60/60 x 15) from the passing point.
The car travelling at 80km/hr would be 20km (80/60 x 15) from the passing point.

Therefore the distance is 15 + 20 = 35km
So D
 

Schoey93

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
988
Location
Western Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
The car travelling at 60km/hr would be 15km (60/60 x 15) from the passing point.
The car travelling at 80km/hr would be 20km (80/60 x 15) from the passing point.

Therefore the distance is 15 + 20 = 35km
So D
Tell me, why did you add 15 and 20 instead of subtracting: 20 - 15?

Sorry; that was a really dumb question! 15 and 20 are both distances from the passing point, so to get the total distance you must add them together. :)
 
Last edited:

annabackwards

<3 Prophet 9
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
4,670
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Tell me, why did you add 15 and 20 instead of subtracting: 20 - 15?

Sorry; that was a really dumb question! 15 and 20 are both distances from the passing point, so to get the total distance you must add them together. :)
Precisely :)

I assumed that they'd pass eachother at say point X and since you want the distance they were apart 15 min beforehand you work backwards.

Car A travelling at 60km/hr is say going left, so 15min before hand the car would be (60/60 x 15 as there are 60 mins in an hour) 15km to the left of X.

On the other handm, Car B travelling 80km/hr would be travelling right (in the opposite direction) and it'd be 80/60 x 15 = 20km to the right of X.

So all up it'd be 15+20 = 35km :)
 

mc1007

New Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
29
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Yeah the answer was D 35kms.

Just wondering why you put the speeds over 60 mins eg (60/60 x 15)

Thanks again
 

addikaye03

The A-Team
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
1,267
Location
Albury-Wodonga, NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Could someone please show me how to do this. I could guess the answer but I have no idea how to do it if I got another question similar:

72. Two Cars are travelling towards each other at 60 km/h and 80 km/h. How far apart are they 15 min before they pass each other

a) 5km
b) 9 1/3 km
c) 20 km
d) 35 km
You use vectors Vtotal=Va-(-Vb) So we set Vb to -Vb because it is going the opposite direction to Va

Since V=D/T so D=VT for a and b, now becareful because 15mins has to be converted to hrs to keep all the units right. So 0.25hrs

Da=60(0.25)=15km
Db=80(0.25)=20km

Therefore one travels 15km in one direction whilst the other travels 20km in opposite direction relative to a intersection point hence answer is D, 35km.
 
Last edited:

Omnipotence

Kendrick Lamar
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
5,327
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Uni Grad
2016
Sigh, my method is easier.

1. 60km/1hr and 80km/hr
2. Ratio 60km:60min
3. Simplify, 1km:1min
4. Multiply by 45, 45km:45min
5. 80km - 45km = 35km
6. Answer D
 

saberbladexx

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
376
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
LOl the easiest method is
60/4=15
80/4=20
add them together and there you go.

@addikaye03:lol its year 10 maths.:lol:
 

Amogh

Member
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
751
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Yeah the answer was D 35kms.

Just wondering why you put the speeds over 60 mins eg (60/60 x 15)

Thanks again
we're converting 15 minutes to hours:
15/60 hours (which is 0.25)
then we're multiplying it to the speed 60 km/hr
and thus you get 15 km.
similarly you multiply 80*0.25 and get 20 km.
So the cars travelled 20 km and 15 km from the point of intersection..
distance between them is 35 km.

Let the cars be A and B.
Total distance travelled 60 x 80 = 480 km
how did you get that?

imo anna's method is the pro-est! w00t w00t!
 

Official

Bring it on
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
962
Location
Over the Moon
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Could someone please show me how to do this. I could guess the answer but I have no idea how to do it if I got another question similar:

72. Two Cars are travelling towards each other at 60 km/h and 80 km/h. How far apart are they 15 min before they pass each other

a) 5km
b) 9 1/3 km
c) 20 km
d) 35 km
140 (Car A + B) / 4 (15 mins = 1/4hr) = 35km.
No need for other bs =p
 

duckcowhybrid

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
959
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
You don't need to work it out, it's multiple choice. It can't be a since 5 is too small, can't be b because 9 and 1/3 is also too small, C doesnt work because 80/4 is already 20 so too small so it's gotta be D. You could do it in your head. It's SC Maths.
 

addikaye03

The A-Team
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
1,267
Location
Albury-Wodonga, NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
You don't need to work it out, it's multiple choice. It can't be a since 5 is too small, can't be b because 9 and 1/3 is also too small, C doesnt work because 80/4 is already 20 so too small so it's gotta be D. You could do it in your head. It's SC Maths.
Yeah i thought that too but he said what if i get a similar Q, ie. the possible answers may not make it so obvious next time, so that's why we provide a solution.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top