Shard covers two-thirds of a journey at 4 km/h and the remaining one-third at 5 km/h. If his total time is 42 minutes, what is the total distance?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: 3 km

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
When segments of a trip are specified as fractions of the total distance with different speeds, compute total time as a sum of fractional-distance time contributions to solve for the total distance.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • (2/3) of distance at 4 km/h.
  • (1/3) of distance at 5 km/h.
  • Total time = 42 minutes = 0.7 hour.


Concept / Approach:
Let total distance be D. Then time = (2D/3)/4 + (D/3)/5. Set equal to 0.7 hour and solve for D.


Step-by-Step Solution:

(2D/3)/4 + (D/3)/5 = 0.7D*(1/6 + 1/15) = 0.71/6 + 1/15 = (5 + 2)/30 = 7/30D = 0.7 * (30/7) = 3 km


Verification / Alternative check:
Time check: (2 km at 4) = 0.5 h; (1 km at 5) = 0.2 h; total = 0.7 h (42 minutes).


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
They correspond to misadding the fractional time terms or misreading minutes vs hours.


Common Pitfalls:
Forgetting to convert 42 minutes to hours; mixing up fractional distance weights.


Final Answer:
3 km

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