Travel and Distance Word Problem (walking, resting)

No matter how hard I try I cannot get word problems. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me with a good explanation of how to work them

A man walks at a pace of 3 miles per hour. After 2 hours he stops for a rest. Let t be time AFTER the rest when he continues on his walk. Let d be the TOTAL distance traveled since he started. Write an equation linking d and t. EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DID TO GET YOUR ANSWER!

THANKS!

Re: Travel and Distance Word Problem

Here's a "hint" to Denise from Denis:
[START]........6 miles.........[STOP]0 hour)..................d - 6 miles...................(t hours)[STOP]

Re: Travel and Distance Word Problem

So in order words -

3mph * 2 hours = 6miles = distance
t = 2 hours

Is that right? Or am I missing something. I still struggle with the equation.

Oh, and I'm glad you're feeling better now!

Re: Travel and Distance Word Problem

denisep said:

No matter how hard I try I cannot get word problems. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me with a good explanation of how to work them

A man walks at a pace of 3 miles per hour. After 2 hours he stops for a rest. Let t be time AFTER the rest when he continues on his walk.

Let d be the TOTAL distance traveled since he started.

Write an equation linking d and t. <<< Your answer should be an equation - not a number.

EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DID TO GET YOUR ANSWER!

THANKS!

Click to expand...

Re: Travel and Distance Word Problem

Draw a picture! Sketch a line labeled d on a sheet of paper. Then draw a point some where on that line. That point is where the man first stop so label the line to the left or right of that point 6 miles (3mph * 2hrs <<<< you figured that out on your own). The other part of the line d is d-6, right? Because the length of the whole line, or the total distance traveled is d and d minus 6 will give you the unknown distance traveled. Then you know that the man's walking pace is 3mph. You also know that the time he is walking at that speed after his rest is t. Speed multiplied by units of time gives you distance. So now you have:

d - 6 = the distance after his rest

and

3mph * t = the distance after his rest


because the two equations both equal "the distance after his rest" you can set them equal to each other!

d - 6 = 3 * t

Now you can leave it like that or rearrange the equation to set it equal to either d or t:

d = 3t + 6

or

(d - 6)/3 = t


This is a pretty cool problem because now if you know the man's total distance traveled, you can just plug it into your handy dandy equation and solve for how long he was traveling, or vice versa if you know the time he was traveling. Hope that helps and that I didn't make any silly mistakes! As far as word problems go, especially when you're first starting them, I find that it helps to draw a picture or make a quick sketch.

http://tinyurl.com/5td82t