Question

A bus traveled on a level road for 3 hours at an average speed 20 miles per hour faster than it traveled on a winding road. The time spent on the winding road was 2 hours. Find the average speed on the level road if the entire trip was 290 miles.

Answer 1

Let's call the average speed on the winding road "x". Then, the average speed on the level road is "x + 20".

We know that the bus traveled on the winding road for 2 hours, so the distance traveled on the winding road is:

distance = rate × time = x × 2 = 2x

We also know that the bus traveled on the level road for 3 hours at an average speed of "x + 20", so the distance traveled on the level road is:

distance = rate × time = (x + 20) × 3 = 3x + 60

The total distance traveled is 290 miles, so we can write:

2x + 3x + 60 = 290

Combining like terms and solving for x, we get:

5x + 60 = 290

5x = 230

x = 46

Therefore, the average speed on the winding road is 46 mph, and the average speed on the level road is:

x + 20 = 46 + 20 = 66 mph.