Question

Two cyclists leave a city at the same time, one going east and the other going west. The westbound cyclist bikes at 3 mph faster than the eastbound cyclist. If after 6 hours they are 162 miles apart, how fast is each cyclist riding?

If you can solve this, can you please show your work and explain what I need to plug in where, and what equation I need to use? This is so confusing.

Answer 1

We will say that the eastbound cyclist is going x mph. This means that the westbound cyclist is going x+3 mph.
They are both cycling for 6 hours and end up 162 miles apart.
Distance=rate*time
6x+6(x+3)=162
6x+6x+18+162
12x=144
x=12
So, the eastbound cyclist is going 12 mph.
Remember the westbound cyclist is going 3 mph faster, so s/he is going 15 mph.
Hope this helps!!