Answer: Another way of looking at this problem, is that Laura will "gain" 2 miles on Tony in 1 hour. Why? She is going 7 miles in 1 hour, while Tony is only going 5. 7-5 = 2.
However, Tony is only .5 miles ahead and the question asks how long will it take for her to catch up, not to overtake him or beat him in some race.
I would make a simple ratio here. If in 1 hour/she beats him by 2 miles, x hours/she beats him by .5 miles.
Another way to write that is 1/2 = x/.5
If you solve the equation, you get (by cross-multiplication) 2x = .5, x = .5/2, x =1/4.
Now, we are dealing with hours, so since there are 60 minutes in one hour, multiple the value you obtain for x by 60 minutes (60*1/4) = 15 minutes.
Therefore, it will take Laura 1/4 of an hour, or 15 minutes, in order to catch up with Tony
Step-by-step explanation:
