A car leaves Macomb traveling south toward Carbondale at the average rate of 52 mph. At the same time, another car leaves Springfield traveling north toward Chicago at the average rate of 60 mph. If they are traveling the same high way, but going different directions, how long will it take them to meet if the cities are 252 miles apart?

tangent

step-by-step explanation:

step-by-step explanation:

this can be solved first with pythagorean theorem, which tells us to square both legs of the triangle and sum it. this will be equal to the square of the hypotenuse.

the hypotenuse is the side "opposite" the 90 degree angle, which is x.

so we can write using pythagorean theorem,

simplifying:

to further simplify this radical, we need to use the property  

thus

here is me explaining it:

the pizza would be delivered around 5, give or take 15 minutes. this means it could be delivered anywhere from 4: 45 to 5: 15

let's say 5: 00 is equivalent to 0 on a number line and x represents time. 4: 45 would be equal to -15x because we are 15 minutes behind our starting point, 5: 00. 5: 15 would be equal to 15x because we are 15 minutes ahead of your starting point (which means you're late on the pizza delivery! )

absolute value is very confusing. the basic definition is how far you are from your starting point. if we deliver the pizza at 4: 45 (15 minutes before the starting point) we would be -15. this means we are 15 away from our starting point, 5: 00. that's the absolute value. |-15| (absolute value of negative fifteen) is equal to 15. if you did not understand this i suggest rereading this paragraph.

the normal way you would write this scenario would be 4.75 (4 and 3 quarters, or 4: 45. you can also write as a fraction.) is less than x and x is less than 5.25 (5 and 1 quarter or 5: 15). 4.75< x< 5.25 the reason why i am using numbers is because you cannot represent typical time as values on a graph, number line, or in an equation.

another way to write this scenario is with absolute value. we can write this as |x| being less than or equal to .25 (remember, this just means 15 minutes).           |x| ≤ .25.

sorry if the end was confusing. because we are talking about time this whole question is 10x harder. like i said earlier, you cannot represent time as, well, time, in a graph, equation, or number line. i set the values as follows: 1/4 or .25 for 15 minutes, and 1 for 1 hour. this is just a common way to set up graphs involving time.

|x| ≤ .25

i hope this ! : )

tell me if you need more assistance