Questions : Walking at 3/4 of his original speed, a man is able to reach his destination by 10 minutes late. Find his original time.
Answer:
, and let his original time be . Then, the distance to the destination is:
Now, when he walks at of his original speed, his new speed is:
Let the new time taken be . Since distance remains the same:
Canceling from both sides:
Rearrange for :
The problem states that he is 10 minutes late, meaning the new time is 10 minutes more than the original:
Substituting :
Multiply everything by 3 to clear the fraction:
Solving for :
Final Answer:
The man's original time was 30 minutes.
Alternative
Here's how to solve this problem:
Understanding the Relationship
- Speed and Time: When speed decreases, time increases to cover the same distance.
- Proportion: The ratio of the speeds is inversely proportional to the ratio of the times.
Setting up the Equation
Let the original time be 't' minutes.
- Original speed: Let's call it 's'.
- Original time: t minutes
- New speed: (3/4)s
- New time: t + 10 minutes
Since the distance is the same in both cases:
Original speed * Original time = New speed * New time
s * t = (3/4)s * (t + 10)
Solving for t
-
Cancel 's' from both sides:
t = (3/4)(t + 10)
-
Distribute the (3/4):
t = (3/4)t + (30/4)
-
Subtract (3/4)t from both sides:
(1/4)t = (30/4)
-
Multiply both sides by 4:
t = 30
Answer:
The man's original time to reach his destination was 30 minutes.
Short Cut 1
You can use the shortcut formula:
Given:
- Reduced speed = of original speed
- Late time = 10 minutes
Applying the formula:
Shortcut Rule:
This works for similar speed-time problems!
