How do i solve this problem?

Question

A railroad switching operator has dscovered that two trains are heading toward each other on the same track. Currently, the trains are 53 miles apart. One train is traveling at 74miles per hour and the other train is traveling at 40 miles per hour. The faster train will require 5 miles to stop safely, and the slower train will require 3 miles to stop safely. About how many minutes does the operator have to warn the train engineers to stop their trains?

i really don't get this problem..

How do i solve it?

Answer 1

Why do these math problems end up in Rail?  Oh well, no mind:

The closing speed of the trains is 74+40, or 114 mph.

It takes 8 miles total for the trains to stop (5+3).

You must take that 8 miles and subtract it from the distance the trains are apart now, in order to tell when the trains have to begin braking (53 - 8 = 45 miles).

How much time will it take for both trains to cover that 45 miles?  At 114 mph, that would be about:

23 minutes, 41 seconds.

Now, how much before that must the operator plan on, in order to take into account transmission time and reaction time of the slowest of the two engineers?

Well, it looks like the operator could get a coffee and do a Sudoku (a simple one, anyway) first, because (s)he probably has 23 minutes to dawdle before having to get those trains to brake.

Answer 2

use the dobcross brass web sight

Answer 3

The closing speed is 74 + 40 = 114 mph.  So, each hour, they get 114 miles closer.  That's your second hint.  They're only 53 miles apart, so the answer is less than an hour!

Answer 4

she calls them right away and tells them to stop

mathematically though

RxT=D

rate x Time = Distance... you do the math im tired