Question

Two trains started simultaneously towards each other form station P and Q which are 480 km apart. It took the first train travelling from P to Q eight hours to cover the distance and the second train travelling from Q to P, ten hours, Determine when the trains met after starting and at what distance form station p?

Answer 1

Let P be taken as origin.

For the first train:

at t = 0, x(0) = 0

at t = 8 hrs. x(t) = 480 km.

For the second train,

at t = 0, x(0) = 480 km.

at t = 10 hrs, x(t) = 0

The coordinates of point R from the graph.

tR = 4.45 hrs. xB (t) = 267 km.

Therefore, the train will meet after 4 hrs. 27 minutes after starting, at a distance of 267 km from the station P.