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mc563427
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mc563427
If two trains are 120 miles apart and are traveling toward each other at constant rate of 30 miles per hour and 40 miles per hour, respectively, how far apart will they be 1 hour before they meet?

(A) 10
(B) 30
(C) 40
(D) 50
(E) 70

As the question ask how far apart they will be 1 hour before they meet, I first calculated when they meet : 120- (30+40)= 12/7 h
so one hour before they meet is 12/7 - 1 = 5/7 h.
when the time is 5/7 they are 5/7 *70= 50 miles far apart .
anyway, the Question bank says that the correct answer is E, 70.
Can anyone tell me why? I think 70 is how much they are far apart 1 hour after they leave, not 1 hour before they meet.

The combined rate of the two trains is 30 + 40 = 70 miles per hour. Therefore 1 hour before they meet the must be 70 miles apart (in the final 1 hour they will cover 70 miles to meet).

Answer: E.

P.S. Please follow the rules when posting a question: rules-for-posting-please-read-this-before-posting-133935.html Thank you.

Similar question to practice: 12-easy-pieces-or-not-126366.html#p1033924

Hope it helps.
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It is still hard for me to focus on the right detail. It is because in this case, I may miss one or two important details in quantitative problems.
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mc563427
If two trains are 120 miles apart and are traveling toward each other at constant rate of 30 miles per hour and 40 miles per hour, respectively, how far apart will they be 1 hour before they meet?

(A) 10
(B) 30
(C) 40
(D) 50
(E) 70

Since we have a converging rate problem, we can use the following formula:

distance 1 train + distance 2 train = total distance

We can let t be the time the two trains will meet. Thus:

30t + 40t = 120

70t = 120

t = 120/70 = 12/7 hours

Since we want to find the distance apart 1 hour before they meet, the distance traveled by one train is 30(12/7 - 1) = 30(5/7) = 150/7 miles and the distance traveled by the other train is 40(12/7 - 1) = 40(5/7) = 200/7 miles. Thus, the total distance traveled by the two trains is 150/7 + 200/7 = 350/7 = 50 miles. Therefore, they are 120 - 50 = 70 miles apart 1 hour before they meet.

Alternative solution:

A much shorter approach to solve this problem is to argue the following:

Since in 1 hour, train 1 travels 30 miles and train 2 travels 40 miles, 1 hour before they meet, they should be 30 + 40 = 70 miles apart.

Answer: E
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If two trains are 120 miles apart and are traveling toward each other at constant rate of 30 miles per hour and 40 miles per hour, respectively, how far apart will they be 1 hour before they meet?

(A) 10
(B) 30
(C) 40
(D) 50
(E) 70

relative speed is 30+40=70 miles per hour

answer is E
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mc563427
If two trains are 120 miles apart and are traveling toward each other at constant rate of 30 miles per hour and 40 miles per hour, respectively, how far apart will they be 1 hour before they meet?

(A) 10
(B) 30
(C) 40
(D) 50
(E) 70


Relative speed of the two trains = 30 + 40 = 70 miles per hour

In the last 1 hour before they meet, the trains together have to travel for 1 hour at a speed of 70 miles per hour.

Hence they will be 70 miles apart,1 hour before they meet.

Answer E.


Thanks,
GyM
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Isn't the mention of 120 miles here redundant? I guess we do not need that piece of information to arrive at the solution

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firas92
You are right. No matter what the initial distance is between the two trains, they would be (40mph*1hr + 30 mph*1hr) = 70 miles from each other 1 hour before they meet.
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gayatri200
this is a little lengthier way of doing but mistake proof method.
They would meet in 120/70 = 12/7 hours
1 hour earlier 5/7 hours
distance between trains = total distance -(distance covered by train A + distance covered by train B)

= 120-(5/7(40+30)) [ distance of A = 5/7* 40; like wise distance by B]
= 70 Km

Kudos! if u like this


did it exactly your way so plus +1 kudos, but man did I feel dumb when I saw Bunuel's explanation.

Complete overthinking.....
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A+B=70
70*1=70
Answer: E
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The relative speed of the trains will be 70 mph (30mph + 40mph). So they will be apart 70 miles 1 hour before they meet.
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