Rates & Work

This topic has expert replies
Legendary Member
Posts: 641
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:52 pm
Thanked: 11 times
Followed by:8 members

Rates & Work

by gmattesttaker2 » Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:22 am
Hello,

Can you please help with this problem here:

Nicky and Cristina are running a race. Since Christina is faster than Nicky, she gives him a 36 meter head start. If Cristina runs at a pace of 5 meters per second and Nicky runs at a pace of only 3 meters per second, how many seconds will Nicky have run before Cristina catches up to him?

Ans: 18 sec

I was thinking that it should be [spoiler]18 + 12 = 30 seconds[/spoiler]


Thanks for your help.

Best Regards,
Sri

User avatar
Community Manager
Posts: 1060
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 6:46 am
Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
Thanked: 318 times
Followed by:52 members

by neelgandham » Mon Sep 03, 2012 12:04 pm
Let s be the number of seconds each runner runs before they meet.
Distance covered by Cristina = 5*s
Distance covered by Nicky = 3*s
Distance covered by Cristina = Distance covered by Nicky + 36 meters
5*s = 3*s + 36
s = 18 seconds
Anil Gandham
Welcome to BEATtheGMAT | Photography | Getting Started | BTG Community rules | MBA Watch
Check out GMAT Prep Now's online course at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:06 pm
gmattesttaker2 wrote:Hello,

Can you please help with this problem here:

Nicky and Cristina are running a race. Since Christina is faster than Nicky, she gives him a 36 meter head start. If Cristina runs at a pace of 5 meters per second and Nicky runs at a pace of only 3 meters per second, how many seconds will Nicky have run before Cristina catches up to him?

Ans: 18 sec

I was thinking that it should be [spoiler]18 + 12 = 30 seconds[/spoiler]


Thanks for your help.

Best Regards,
Sri
The CATCH-UP rate = faster rate - slower rate.
Since Cristina travels 5 meters per second and Nicky travels 3 meters per second, every second Cristina catches up by 5-3 = 2 meters.
Since Cristina is 36 meters behind Nicky, the time for Cristina to catch up = distance/(catch-up rate) = 36/2 = 18 seconds.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 58
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 9:57 pm
Thanked: 1 times

by vinodsundaram » Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:00 am
thank u mitch !!

These tidbits helps us in saving time on the real GMAT.

Legendary Member
Posts: 641
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:52 pm
Thanked: 11 times
Followed by:8 members

by gmattesttaker2 » Sun Oct 27, 2013 9:54 pm
Hello,

I was trying to approach this problem as follows:

Rate x Time = Distance
N: 3 x t = d
C: 5 x t = d + 36

So, 3t = d
and 5t = d + 36

=> 5t = 3t + 36
=> t = 18 sec.

However, Since Cristina gave Nick a 36 meter head start, Nick has already ran for 36 meters. So we need to calculate the time taken to run these 36 meters as well:

Rate x Time = Distance
N: 3 x t = 36

So, t = 12 sec.

Hence, Nick would have run 12 sec. (for this 36 meter headstart) + 18 sec. (when Cristina starts running and catches up with him) = 30 sec.

However, the book answer is 18 sec.

Can you please clarify? Thanks a lot for your help.

Best Regards,
Sri