# Open ended math question Help!



## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

My daughter has one of those dreaded word problems I always had trouble with in school. I have been looking online for some help and can't find what I am looking for.

Could someone help us through this? I will write the word problem and the questions we have to answer. I am not looking for the answer, just how to solve it. If you could break it down step by step, I would be eternally grateful!

Thank you all in advance

*Carlos leaves Los Angeles on a cross sountry car trip at 8am, he averages 50 mph.

Juanita plans to take the exact route but dsoesn't plan to leave until 9am. She averages 60 mph

Develope a diagram or table to determine at what time Juanita will pass Carlos* 

_*Read the problem and break it into parts to solve
*Develope a diagram or table
*Explain why you solved it that way_


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## okgoatgal2 (May 28, 2002)

i personally would graph the solution. after 1 hr he's driven 50 miles. 2 hrs 100 miles. same with juanita. the parts to solve are how far carlos drives compared to how far juanita drives. the graph will show when she passes him. as to the explain why, well, cause it's the easiest way my brain could comprehend it.


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## Watcher48 (Aug 30, 2007)

okgoatgal2 said:


> i personally would graph the solution. after 1 hr he's driven 50 miles. 2 hrs 100 miles. same with juanita. the parts to solve are how far carlos drives compared to how far juanita drives. the graph will show when she passes him. as to the explain why, well, cause it's the easiest way my brain could comprehend it.


YUP!


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

If you don't want to graph it, you can do it with an equation.

You know that at 9AM, Carlos has traveled 50 miles, and that each hour that he drives is 50 miles. So if you call the number of hours past 9AM that they will meet as X, you have Carlos side of the equation as:

50 + 50X

For Juanita, you know that she will drive 60 miles each hour, so her side of the equation is 60X, where X is the same as for Carlos, the number of hours after 9AM before they meet.

So your equation is:
50 + 50X = 60X

I would simplify by dividing the whole equation by 10 so that you get:
5 + 5X = 6X

Then you can take away 5X from both sides of the equation to get:
5 = 1X, therefore X is 5 hours - after 9AM, so that they meet at 2PM.

Dawn


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

You are all wrong. Obviousy, Carlos & Juanita are illegal aliens & will never travel at the posted speed. When Juanita overtakes Carlos, the deal will go down. Then they'll bug out to Mexico for more drugs.


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## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanks everyone. I just look at those things and get confused. I can't even begin to figure out what is relevant and what type of an equation to use. Obviously, my DD takes after me!

Tricky Grama I liked your answer!


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