Solving problems with Algebra |
Kashamba drives x kilometers in 50 minutes. How many minutes in terms of x will it take him to drive 10 kilometers, given that he drives at the same speed? From other postings you might have learned about the speed, time and distance formula:
Thus, time = distance/speed Now: time in minutes = 10km/(x/50min) = 10km/x * 50min/1 = 500/x Proving your answerThe beauty of solving a problem like this with algebra is that you can prove that your answer is right by plugging a number into the variable: Say now that we plug a number 5 in for x, the problem now reads as follows: Kashamba drove 5 kilometers in 50 minutes. How many minutes in terms of x will it take him to drive 10 kilometers, given that he drives at the same speed? All of a sudden, the problem has become much simpler, why? because if he drives 5km in 50 minutes, it should take him about twice as long to drive 10km at the same speed. Thus it will take him 100 minutes to drive 10km. This can also be calculated as follows: 50 minutes/x minutes = 5km/10km now cross multiply => 5x = 500 => x = 100 minutes |
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