Problem Solving

Hi LUANDATO,

We're that two projectiles are launched at the same moment from 1320 miles apart and travel directly towards each other at 480 miles per hour and 510 miles per hour, respectively. We're asked for the number of minutes it will take for them to meet. The math behind this question can be done in number of different ways, depending on how you organize your work.

To start, it's worth noting that all of the answers are INTEGERS, so even though the numbers in this question might seem 'big'/'strange', they clearly end with a whole number once you do the necessary work (implying that there IS some sort of 'relationship' among these numbers). Since the two projectiles are traveling 480 miles/hour and 510 miles/hour, their COMBINED rate is 480 + 510 = 990 miles/hour. The total distance traveled is 1320 miles - and that distance is larger than the combined speed in miles/hour, so the total time is clearly MORE than 1 hour.

In that first hour, 990 miles are traveled, which would leave....
1320 - 990 = 330 miles to go

330/990 = an extra 1/3 of an hour to travel the remaining distance, so the total time is 1 1/3 hours = 1 hour 20 minutes

Final Answer: C

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:If two projectiles are launched at the same moment from 1320 miles apart and travel directly towards each other at 480 miles per hour and 510 miles per hour, respectively, how many minutes will it take for them to meet?

A. 40
B. 44
C. 80
D. 88
E. 90

We can create the equation:

480t + 510t = 1320

990t = 1320 = 1 1/3 hours = 1 hour 20 minutes = 80 minutes

Answer: C