How many fewer minutes does it take to drive 35 miles at 30mi/h than to drive the same distance at 25 mi/h? The answer is 40minutes but i need to know how to do it



Answer :

AL2006
To drive 35 miles at 30 mph takes (35/30) hour.
To drive 35 miles at 25 mph takes (35/25) hour.

The difference is  (35/25) minus (35/30).

In order to add or subtract fractions, they need a common denominator.
The smallest one available for this situation is 150 .

(35/25) = 210/150
(35/30) = 175/150

Now we can subtract:    (210/150) - (175/150) = 35/150 of an hour.
(35/150  hour) x (60 min/hr) = (35 x 60) / (150) min = 14 minutes.

==>  It's beginning to look like the answer is NOT 40minutes.
Let's do it again, with a less-elegant but more-intuitive approach:

Time to drive 35 miles at 30 mph = 35/30 = 1-1/6 hours = 70 minutes.
Time to drive 35 miles at 25 mph = 35/25 = 1.4 hours = 84 minutes.

Time saved by driving at 30 mph instead of 25 mph = (84 - 70) = 14 minutes.