Question
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(d) Leonard travels a distance of 240 km to visit his parents. He calculates that, if he increases his average speed by \( 20 \mathrm{~km} / \mathrm{h} \), the journey will take him 2 hours less. Determine his original speed.

Ask by Ryan Norris. in South Africa
Feb 26,2025

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Answer

Leonard's original speed is 40 km/h.

Solution

Let Leonard’s original speed be v km/h. The time taken at his original speed is 240/v hours, and if he increases his speed by 20 km/h (to v + 20 km/h), the time taken becomes 240/(v + 20) hours. According to the problem, the journey time is reduced by 2 hours when the speed is increased. This gives us the equation:   240/v – 240/(v + 20) = 2 Multiply through by v(v + 20) to eliminate the fractions:   240(v + 20) – 240v = 2v(v + 20) Simplify the left-hand side:   240v + 4800 – 240v = 4800 So the equation becomes:   4800 = 2v² + 40v Divide the whole equation by 2:   2400 = v² + 20v Rearrange into standard quadratic form:   v² + 20v – 2400 = 0 Next, use the quadratic formula:   v = (–b ± √(b² – 4ac)) / (2a), where a = 1, b = 20, and c = –2400. Compute the discriminant:   Δ = 20² – 4(1)(–2400) = 400 + 9600 = 10000 Taking the square root:   √Δ = 100 Now, the solutions for v are:   v = (–20 ± 100) / 2 We discard the negative root, so:   v = (–20 + 100) / 2 = 80 / 2 = 40 Thus, Leonard's original speed is 40 km/h.

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Extra Insights

To solve this delightful little puzzle, let’s declare Leonard’s original speed as \( x \) km/h. It takes him \( \frac{240}{x} \) hours to travel the distance of 240 km. If he speeds up by 20 km/h, his new speed is \( x + 20 \) km/h, and the time taken is \( \frac{240}{x + 20} \) hours. According to the problem, this new journey takes him 2 hours less: \[ \frac{240}{x} - \frac{240}{x + 20} = 2 \] Now, by multiplying through by \( x(x + 20) \) to eliminate the denominators and simplifying, you’ll find that \( x \) is 40 km/h! What’s fascinating is how simple equations can unleash your inner detective to find the speed. When you visualize Leonard zooming down the road, that extra 20 km/h makes a significant difference—turning a four-hour drive into just two hours! If he’d only taken this shortcut in life!

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